Hyundai Card Cooking Library, Seoul

Over the past few years South Korean credit card firm Hyundai Card has been creating unique, experiential libraries dedicated to the creative arts – an approach designed to connect the brand’s offerings with lifestyle experiences.

The newly opened Cooking Library complements three existing repositories dedicated to music, travel and design. Crafted by London-based foodie design firm Blacksheep, the five-storey environment provides an immersive culinary experience celebrating the world of food, dining and cooking. The aesthetic is European factory meets food lab, combining hand-picked, rustic notes of wood, polished concrete and brushed metal with technological moments.

Blacksheep has crafted a hands-on, multi-storey celebration of the culinary arts for Hyundai Card members.

A ground floor area incorporates a deli, shop, bakery and cafe designed to provide an initial sensory taste of the space. Open and active, it invites visitors to gather at a communal dining table or a marble-clad coffee station counter. Upstairs, a first-floor library houses some 10,000 cooking books and an ‘Ingredients House’ featuring hundreds of globally sourced ingredients. Two working kitchens provide spaces for visitors to participate in cooking classes, attend events or even collaborate on recipes in an adjacent Recipe Room, while a glass-framed ‘Greenhouse’ dining area offers an exclusively high-end restaurant experience.

Like the firm’s other cultural libraries, the Cooking Library is restricted to members and their guests. It’s a uniquely experiential membership perk that serves to link the Hyundai Card brand with daily life.