The gelateria grew from Hanro-at-Home, a family ritual of making seasonal gelato for a son, with flavours shaped by fresh ingredients and everyday care. For designer Minwoo Ian Yang, this connection to seasonality became the foundation for a compact interior that brings the passage of time into close dialogue with the building’s own history.

Located on Baekbeom-ro, the gelateria occupies the ground floor of a white-painted brick building facing the Gyeongui Line Forest Park, a former railway line transformed into a ribbon of greenery. Its position beside the park became an important part of the design. Floor-to-ceiling glass doors and wide windows open the compact interior towards the landscape, allowing natural light and views of the changing foliage to enter the shop. Seats are oriented towards the storefront, giving customers a direct connection to the scenery beyond and allowing the seasons to become part of the interior experience.

The relationship between change and continuity is also expressed through the building itself. During demolition, Yang uncovered traces of the approximately 60-year-old structure and the tenants who had occupied it over the decades. Weathered concrete, cracked surfaces, misaligned finishes and remnants of previous layers were left exposed, preserving the imperfect character of the existing building. These elements sit alongside newly introduced marble, timber and stainless steel, creating an interior where age and newness can coexist.

The material palette is deliberately varied. Glossy blue rippled marble introduces a striking surface against the roughness of the concrete, while wooden seating brings warmth to the otherwise restrained setting. A traditional stainless-steel ice cream counter anchors the shop, connecting the contemporary intervention to the familiar rituals of serving and eating gelato. The contrast between smooth and weathered surfaces also recalls the textures found in the gelato itself, where different qualities meet within a single experience.

With its compact footprint, the interior relies on a small number of adaptable elements. A triangular slab of blue marble functions as a seat on wheels, while a geometric wooden bench rests unfixed against the wall. Furniture can be moved and rearranged as the needs of the shop change, allowing the interior to remain responsive to everyday use. This sense of impermanence extends the philosophy of Hanro beyond its seasonal flavours, giving physical form to a place that is comfortable with change, wear and accumulation.