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HOPE with HUG Project Completes Renovation of Sanggok Village Hall… Now Accepting Applications for 2026 Project Sites

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Park Heong-joon, announced that it has completed the renovation of Sanggok Village Hall in Gangseo-gu as the 64th project under the “HOPE with HUG Project,” which is being jointly carried out with the Busan International Architecture Festival Organizing Committee (Executive Director Lee Seong-ho, hereinafter Busan International Architecture Festival) and Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG, President Choi In-ho), and will hold a completion ceremony.

The completion ceremony will take place today (the 6th) at 2:00 p.m. at Sanggok Village Hall (660-3 Jedo-ro, Gangseo-gu, Busan), with attendees including representatives from Busan Metropolitan City, the Busan International Architecture Festival, HUG, sponsoring companies, architects who donated their design talents, and local residents.

The “HOPE with HUG Project” is a public-private partnership initiative that improves the spatial environments of small, aging public facilities for socially vulnerable groups through donated architectural design expertise and financial sponsorship. Since its launch in 2013, the project has carried out improvements at a total of 64 facilities, bringing meaningful changes to local communities.

This 64th project was supported by financial sponsorship from Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) and Kyungdong Construction Co., Ltd., along with pro bono design services provided by Jo Ho-je, CEO of Lalahoho Architects & Associates.

Sanggok Village Hall, the renovation site, had previously served as a local retail shop and study space for residents’ children, functioning as a communal gathering and interaction space. However, due to facility deterioration, its use had declined in recent years, and it had been used primarily as a storage space for farming equipment.

Through this project, the village hall has been newly transformed into a community space equipped with a shared kitchen and rest area for residents. In particular, it is expected to serve as a place for communication and collaboration, especially during the upcoming farming season, where busy residents can prepare meals together and engage in communal activities.

In addition, Busan Metropolitan City is publicly recruiting project sites for the “2026 HOPE with HUG Project” and is seeking new locations to drive positive changes in aging public facilities this year as well.

This year’s project will be carried out with a total budget of approximately KRW 165 million, supported by pro bono design services from local architects and financial sponsorship from Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) and local construction companies. One to two aging public facilities in Busan will be selected for remodeling.

Eligible facilities include aging public-use buildings with a total floor area of approximately 150 square meters, focusing on facilities supporting socially vulnerable groups—such as shelters for the homeless, night schools, and youth crisis shelters—as well as public facilities closely related to citizens’ daily lives.

Applications must be submitted by April 20 via email (biacf@naver.com). After document review and on-site evaluation, the final project sites will be selected in May, with full-scale implementation beginning in June.

Detailed information on application requirements and evaluation criteria can be found on the Busan International Architecture Festival website (biacf.or.kr).

Bae Seong-taek, Director General of the Housing and Architecture Bureau of Busan Metropolitan City, stated, “The HOPE with HUG Project goes beyond simple facility improvement; it is an initiative that restores both the function and meaning of space by reconfiguring aging public facilities into living spaces tailored to local characteristics,” adding, “We will continue to improve living infrastructure across the region through ongoing public-private cooperation.”