layered roof tops farmhouse renovation by drawing works in korea

DRAWING WORKS reimagines 50-year-old farmhouse in korea

On the former site of Gorami Village, now called Goam-dong in Jecheon, Chungcheongbuk-do, architect Youngbae Kim of DRAWING WORKS renovates a 50-year-old farmhouse as Gorami House. Embracing the irregularity of the original timber structure, Kim transforms the aging home with subtle spatial recalibrations and a new undulating roofline that echoes the mountain ridges behind the site. The project respectfully layers material, memory, and light to preserve a deeply personal relationship to the space.

all images ©Yoon, Joonhwan

plywood and white walls finish Gorami House

Instead of erasing the past, Youngbae Kim, founder of Korean architecture studio DRAWING WORKS, amplifies it by framing, preserving, and, in some cases, patching crooked pine rafters, thick layers of daub, slanted mud walls, and mismatched construction methods with discreet interventions. The architect opts for a traditional L layout in the main building. One of the three rooms became part of a new living area, and the kitchen was reorganized into a linear arrangement, retaining existing rafters beneath newly insulated ceilings. Smooth white walls and plywood finishes enhance spatial clarity.

The original property — composed of a main house and adjacent servants’ quarters arranged around a yard—had belonged to the family for decades. When the current owners, a couple who lived in a Bundang apartment, returned to care for an elderly parent and tend an 8,250-square-meter plot of land, they chose not to demolish the house but to restore it. The design began with a conversation over sweet potatoes and omija tea in the winter sun, in a meeting of generations that set the tone for what would follow.

architect Youngbae Kim of DRAWING WORKS renovates a 50-year-old farmhouse

original elements reused for landscaping

The adjacent linear arrangement of servants’ quarters — now used as a guesthouse—was treated as a facade to the street, providing privacy while preserving their function as a threshold to the yard. Despite the changes, DRAWING WORKS maintains original elements like the timber doors and flat foundation stones and reuses them as landscape elements. A metal-framed ceiling flows like a wave between old beams, while the new roof, clad in natural slate, ties the two volumes together, its form echoing the slope of the nearby mountains.

Gorami House aims to demonstrate how structure, memory, and material can be composed like a folk song—simple, layered, and full of texture. What began as a disorderly farmhouse is now a grounded living environment that celebrates the site’s deep familial history.

embracing the irregularity of the original timber structure

a new undulating roofline that echoes the mountain ridges behind the site

the project respectfully layers material, memory, and light

DRAWING WORKS frames, preserves, and, in some cases, patches original elements

the architect opts for a traditional L layout in the main building

smooth white walls and plywood finishes enhance spatial clarity

DRAWING WORKS maintains original elements like the timber doors and flat foundation stones

the new roof, clad in natural slate, ties the two volumes together

what began as a disorderly farmhouse is now a grounded living environment

project info:

name: Gorami House
architect: DRAWING WORKS | @drawingworks_architects

location: 93-1 Goam-dong, Jecheon-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea

area: 105 square meters

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edited by: thomai tsimpou | designboom