Cosmo 40: From Chemical Factory To Cafe In Incheon
Ever fancy a visit to a chemical facility? I would fathom no, but if a once abandoned chemical facility that was regenerated into an arts and culture complex is up your alley, then you should visit Cosmo 40 in Incheon, Korea. Korea has quite the knack for taking old abandoned warehouses, facilities, and remnants of war and turning them into community spaces and I, for one, dig it. Looking for something unique to see in Incheon? Definitely see what’s going on at Cosmo 40 (코스모40). Keep reading to learn more about this cool spot.
Regenerated spaces and places are popular in Korea. Visit Cosmo 40 to see why:
- How To Get There
- Basic Info
- What To Know
- What To see
- Other Regenerated Spaces To Find In Korea
- What To See Nearby
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How To Get There
Address: 9 Janggogae-ro 231 beon-gil, Seo-gu, Incheon (인천 서구 장고개로231번길 9)
By public transportation: You can head to Incheon Gajwa Subway Station and go out of exit 1. Walk south for a couple of blocks and turn left to head in to the neighborhood to find Cosmo 40. It’s just a 10 minute walk from the station.
Basic Info
Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 10:00am ~ 8:00pm; Saturday & Sunday: 10:00am ~ 9:00pm
Days: Closed Tuesdays
Website: https://www.cosmo40.com
What To Know
The building that now houses Cosmo 40 was once the largest chemical facility in South Korea. The company moved to Ulsan in 2016 and the plant was abandoned. Today, it is an award-winning arts and culture complex that houses cafes, market spaces, halls, exhibitions, and converts into performance spaces too. Cosmo 40 is in a district of Incheon that has been on the rebound in recent years and you can find other cool areas to explore like Gaehang-ro not too far away. The area was in the decline and there have been quite a few projects with regional regeneration as the goal so there are some very cool things to see at Cosmo 40 and in the surrounding area.
What To See
When working with outdated factories, there’s a lot that has to be accomplished before people can set foot in them again. Old buildings need to be converted and updated for safety and often that means the bones of structures can be lost and not recognized in the end ultimately. That didn’t happen with Cosmo 40, thankfully.
There is a dramatic space that unfolds before you as you enter this huge factory. The architects that worked on the project created a new and updated structure that hugs and sits within the old factory to make it more useful and creates an interesting contrast between new and old.
Especially appealing is the use of colors and opaque glass and you would be surprised to find a heavy velvet curtain too. All of this comes together to create a colorfully retro vibe that is fun and creative but useful as it adds flare while the velvet curtains decrease the glare from the light that pours in from above and decreases the sound bouncing off of the bare walls.
This is something I’ve noticed in regenerated cafes in Korea. Warehouse style or industrial cafes began trending some years back but the people that designed these places didn’t take into account how sound bounces off bare cement walls and many of them are just noisy. Having a musician husband who is constantly aware of the sound at play in a space, it is so apparent when someone designs a space and doesn’t realize what it will be like with a lot of people talking or music playing. Cosmo 40 has done a great job with such a large space still creating ways for sound to be blocked and absorbed so it’s not noisy.
Cosmo Lounge
The Cosmo Lounge on the 3rd floor is where visitors can find food and beverages. Go for a coffee and a bakery item in the morning or go with more hunger and you can get pizza. Go later in the day, and you’ve got a bar with cool vibes.
Grated Floors
You can wander up and down and check out the entire space but do note that on upper floors the flooring is grated so if you’re wearing heels, it is NOT the easiest place to wander. Get ready to tip toe!
Walk around inside and outside
Be aware of the different doors, entrances, and exits and feel free to explore the space. They are dealing with accessibility issues as many Korean buildings do, but if you can use the various staircases, there are cool rooms and hidden corners of the complex to find. We’ve found when exploring that you kind of just have to push doors and see what happens. If the door is open, feel free to walk through. You never know what you’ll find.
Most of the other patrons in the space when we visited were just enjoying the Cosmo Lounge for coffee and a snack, but there were cool rooms with old factory systems to see, a spiral staircase, a high rise grassy garden and more that other people just weren’t taking advantage of. It’s a very interesting space. Take advantage and see it all when you go.
Other Regenerated Spaces To Find In Korea
We love visiting the regenerated spaces in Korea to see how places can be reused and recreated into community spaces from factories, remnants of war, and more. Here are some other cool ones to visit if you are into this vibe as well.
- Sansok Lighthouse just outside of Jeonju, Korea
- B39 in Bucheon, Korea
- Camp Greaves in Paju, Korea
- Peace Culture Bunker in northern Seoul, Korea
- Oil Tank Culture Park in Seoul, Korea
- Seonyudo Island in Seoul, Korea
What To See Nearby
After visiting Cosmo 40, be sure to walk around the surrounding neighborhood. As mentioned earlier, this part of Incheon has seen quite a bit of regeneration in recent years and there are more artists and creators in the surrounding area now as well who have created murals and more to see. There are also some cool cafes as well so you could stay in this part of Seo-gu, Incheon from day into night just cafe hopping, eating, and checking out the exhibitions and performances.
Sun Chamber Society (선챔버소사이어티)
Having had our fill of coffee and food, we only checked out Sun Chamber Society briefly and had fun in the photobooth out front, but this is another cool cafe in the area just steps from Cosmo 40 if you needed another place to fill your time.
- Address: 15 Janggogae-ro 231 beon-gil, Seo-gu, Incheon
- Hours: Monday, Wednesday – Sunday: 12:00pm ~ 8:00pm
ODAM (오담)
You might not expect to find a Hanok cafe in the area, but there always seems to be at least one in the most unexpected of places. After our exploration and lunch at Cosmo 40, we had to stop into this beautiful space for coffee and a dessert. From new to old and old to new, it was a beautiful cafe to spend an hour in.
- Address: 243-4 Janggogae-ro, Seo-gu, Incheon
- Hours: Every day: 11:00am ~ 10:00pm
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