A hush settles as you step into Hana Securities Centerfield, a private client interior in Gangnam that reads less like a financial institution and more like a carefully composed private residence. Steven Leach Group (SLG) completed the commission in 2025 for VVIP clients at a 1,750 sqm office in Seoul.
The brief asked for a replacement of corporate glare with the slow, reassuring grammar of hospitality. The resulting interior privileges tactility, measured restraint, and a choreography of light, creating a place where discretion is designed into every surface.
A lakeside reverie, translated into stone and timber
The project takes its cues from the serene elegance of an Italian lakeside villa and the ordered intimacy of ancient Roman residences. Curved walls and softened edges recur as a deliberate motif, shaping corridors and rooms into a sequence of gentle reveals. These rounded forms temper sightlines and encourage a slower pace of movement; they also allow the design to feel protective rather than imposing.
Where many financial interiors announce themselves with scale and spectacle, SLG’s scheme opts for proportion and pause, inviting clients to linger rather than hurry.
Soft screens and layered thresholds
Privacy is achieved through layering rather than closure. Textured and frosted glass panels act as semi‑transparent screens, diffusing light and creating a sense of depth between zones. Metal framing gives these screens a crisp edge, while rippled surfaces scatter illumination into a soft, water‑like glow.
Heavy drapery and deep textiles further modulate sound and light, turning consulting rooms into intimate theatres for conversation. The interplay of translucent and opaque surfaces produces thresholds that feel both generous and discreet.
Light as a sculptor
Lighting is treated as a compositional tool rather than an afterthought. Recessed spotlights, linear ceiling runs and warm ambient fixtures are orchestrated to define function and to accentuate material transitions.
In communal areas, the ceiling becomes a stage where sculptural metallic elements and carefully placed downlights create pockets of warmth. Linear illumination along corridors guides movement with calm, directional clarity. The overall effect is low-contrast lighting that reveals texture without shouting.
A material language of restraint
The palette is quietly luxurious. Dark wood panelling and polished stone floors lend gravitas and a sense of permanence; metal detailing and sculptural ceiling features introduce a contemporary counterpoint. Integrated shelving with warm backlighting and curated display niches give certain rooms a library‑like intimacy, while carpets and rugs delineate seating clusters and soften footsteps.
Plants and natural arrangements are used sparingly, their green notes tempering the otherwise composed, neutral scheme and adding a subtle biophilic warmth.
Hospitality as currency
A circular reception moment reads more like a bar in a private club than a bank counter. A rounded counter with upholstered stools sits beneath a decorative ceiling element, offering an informal point of encounter.
Lounge areas are arranged as clusters of conversation, with tufted leather chairs, curved sofas and individual armchairs forming settings that can host both formal consultation and relaxed dialogue. These hospitality gestures reframe client interaction as an experience to be savoured, not a process to be rushed.
Detailing that rewards attention
The detailing throughout the scheme is meticulous. Joinery meets stone with precise lines; metal frames are resolved with care; ceiling junctions and lighting tracks are integrated rather than applied. These small, exacting decisions accumulate into a sense of craft that underpins the whole project. It is the kind of refinement that does not demand notice, but that becomes apparent the longer one stays.
Soft geometry, quiet authority
The design of Hana Securities Centerfield demonstrates how a financial group can reimagine a private client environment through the lens of hospitality. By privileging softened geometry, textured glass, layered lighting and a muted material palette, Steven Leach Group has created an environment that supports privacy, comfort and long-term relationships. The design resists ostentation and instead cultivates dignity, producing an interior where architecture itself becomes part of the service.
Founded in Hong Kong by Steven J. Leach Jr. in 1972, The Steven Leach Group operates from eight offices across Asia Pacific. The studio offers a full range of services including interior design, design and build, hospitality design, architecture, sustainable design, workplace strategy, and project management.
