44 Square Meters, Four Floors: Inside Seoul's DamDam House

DamDam House packs a family of two adults, twins, and two cats into just 44 square meters, completed in 2025 by Studio SMA and Ground Architects under lead architects Hanjoong Kim and SeungBum Ma. The project, published by ArchDaily on October 31, 2026, sits on a small site hemmed in by taller buildings.

The architects' answer to that tight, exposed setting is solid exterior walls. According to the text provided by the architects, the house was "designed with solid exterior walls to ensure privacy on a small site surrounded by taller buildings." Privacy drives the envelope; the plan does the rest.

How Do You Fit a Family of Six Into 44 m²?

You build upward, and you split every floor into a single clear function. The architects note that "the functions of each floor were carefully separated, and the circulation was precisely planned to maximize the usability of the interior spaces." A parking layout on the site added constraints, and the floor-by-floor organization works around it.

The stack reads like this:

• First floor: a living room set at a slightly lowered level, with a double-height window and a small garden on the east side
• Second floor: a balustrade overlooking the void in front of that window
• Third floor: a pair of symmetrical rooms for the twins
• Fourth floor: the couple's private space and a studio
• Rooftop: a transparent curved mass that, per the architects, "creates a bright and friendly atmosphere"

The double-height window and east garden create what the architects call "a seamless relationship between the interior and exterior." The void in front of the window does more than bring in light. It "encourages sectional communication between floors," and it has at least two regular users: the family's cats, which, in the architects' words, "often observe the family's daily life from the balustrade on the second floor."

What Does the Envelope Look Like?

From outside, DamDam reads as stacked solid concrete masses that envelop the interior. The architects tuned each elevation to its exposure. On the southern side, frosted glass blocks cut direct lines of sight from neighboring buildings.

On the east and west elevations, the windows grow gradually larger as they climb, matching the function of each floor. The transparent curved rooftop volume lightens the top of the otherwise heavy concrete stack.

A Small Footprint With a Full Drawings Set

The published project documentation is unusually complete for a house of this size. It includes a site plan, individual floor plans for all five levels, two sections, a section perspective, two axonometric views, two concept sketches, a physical model view, and 39 photographs shot by Donggyu Kim.

The interior photography shows the material palette in detail: exposed concrete alongside warm wood in the dining room, kitchen, shelving, closets, and bedrooms, with built-in lighting throughout.

For cities where families outgrow small infill plots, DamDam House offers a working template: separate functions by floor, open a vertical void to connect them, and let the facade — not the floor area — negotiate privacy.