LOTTE Engineering & Construction to Bring Paris’s Sorbonne to Mokdong LE-EL: “We Promise the Highest Sales Prices”

[Financial News] LOTTE Engineering & Construction unveiled the “Sorbonne Project,” a concept designed for the Mokdong New Town redevelopment that connects education, nature and art as a unified lifestyle culture. Moving beyond the existing high-end competition focused on exterior design and premium finishing materials, the company plans to provide education and cultural programs as well as concierge services after residents move in, with the goal of creating the highest level of value in Mokdong.
LOTTE Engineering & Construction held a press briefing on the 14th and 15th at the Mokdong LE-EL Lounge near Omokgyo Station in Yangcheon District, Seoul. It unveiled the Sorbonne Project for the Mokdong redevelopment and its operating plans for the Mokdong LE-EL Lounge. The lounge will open to Mokdong residents on October 1.
■ The “Sorbonne Project,” Connecting Education, Forests and Art
The Sorbonne Project is a residential concept developed by LOTTE Engineering & Construction for all 14 complexes in Mokdong New Town. It takes its name from Sorbonne Université in Paris’s Latin Quarter.
LOTTE Engineering & Construction combined Mokdong’s education and green spaces, accumulated over the past 40 years, with the intellectual, cultural and artistic image symbolized by the Latin Quarter. The project’s planning also reflects the historical connection that Paris Park is located in Mokdong.
Kwon Dong-hyeok, group head of LOTTE Engineering & Construction’s Urban Renewal Team, said, “The starting point of the Sorbonne Project is adding Paris’s intellect and art to Mokdong’s education and forests.” He summed up the project with the phrase, “The tree of knowledge becomes Mokdong’s forest.”
LOTTE Engineering & Construction plans to develop the concept around four pillars: education, nature, art and culture, and high-end services. Large libraries and book cafés, premium learning spaces and education-care programs will make education an everyday form of content rather than a simple ancillary facility.
The company also plans to connect Mokdong’s existing green spaces and pedestrian environment to the complexes. It will create “biophilic living” by combining forests, gardens, water features and architecture, while incorporating eco-friendly technologies such as geothermal energy, renewable energy and rooftop solar panels according to the conditions of each project site.
In culture and the arts, the company will continuously operate contemporary art, media art, music, classical performances and curation programs. Rather than competing over the size and number of community facilities, it said the focus would be on the content residents actually use and experience, as well as the quality of its operation.
As a point of differentiation from other high-end brands, the company highlighted Lotte Group’s capabilities in service and content operations. The approach involves incorporating the services of LOTTE HOTELS & RESORTS, the group’s retail and cultural networks, and the art and music programs of LOTTE Foundation for Arts into residential services.
Kwon said, “The value of high-end apartments will no longer be determined solely by how elaborate the exterior is, how large the community facilities are, or what finishing materials were used.” He added, “I believe the industry will shift from hardware-centered high-end housing to high-end housing in which lifestyle services are more important.” He explained, “Ultimately, what LE-EL seeks to create is not simply a good space, but good experiences that continue within that space.”
The company also presented its operational experience as a competitive advantage. LOTTE Engineering & Construction directly operates concierge services and various facilities at LE WEST in Magok. Rather than stopping at introducing facilities, it plans to apply the strengths and weaknesses identified during operations to the Mokdong project, thereby increasing the utilization of community facilities and services after completion.
■ Mokdong LE-EL Lounges to Open in October, Available to All Mokdong Residents
Two Mokdong LE-EL lounges have been established in the eastern and western parts of the area, allowing visitors to experience the Sorbonne Project in advance. The eastern lounge near Omokgyo Station is called LE EST, while the western lounge near the academy district in Sinjeong-dong is called LE WEST. The names combine “est,” French for east, and “west” with L, the initial of Lotte in English.
The lounges are designed not merely as spaces for business presentations, but as places where visitors can experience the residential environment proposed by LE-EL. Trees, scents and the sounds of nature have been added to an entrance route reminiscent of a forest trail, while a video depicting the flow of Anyangcheon has also been installed. Spaces inspired by Claude Monet’s House and Gardens in Giverny and Arles, where Vincent van Gogh worked, will present media art and classical music programs.
After opening on October 1, the lounges will be available to all Mokdong residents, not only members of a specific redevelopment association. Lecture concerts introducing works by Vincent van Gogh, René Magritte and Henri Rousseau alongside classical music will also be held once a week.
Meanwhile, LOTTE Engineering & Construction is currently focusing its review on Complexes 2, 7, 11 and 14 in Mokdong New Town. The complexes in which it will actually participate have not yet been determined because the bidding notice, the association’s procurement conditions, project feasibility and the competitive environment have not been finalized. Once the successful projects are decided, the company plans to apply the Sorbonne Project as a common direction, develop specialized designs suited to each complex’s location and surrounding environment, and consider the participation of overseas design firms.
Kwon said, “We will do our best within the construction cost first proposed by the association,” adding, “We will create the highest sales prices, like those of Cheongdam LE-EL, Jamsil LE-EL and Banpo LE-EL.”

[email protected] Choi Ga-young Reporter