CHEONGJU, North Chung-cheong Province — “Some of our visitors told us that they saw Genesis Cheongju while driving and made a U-turn to check it out for themselves.”

Sure enough, Genesis Cheonju — the latest showroom of Hyundai Motor Group’s luxury auto brand Genesis — stood out as The Korea Herald visited the site on Wednesday. With the upper levels of the building covered in glass walls and the horizontal wooden support beams featuring traditional Korean eaves at the bottom, Genesis Cheongju resembles an art museum.

As fancy as the exterior appeared, there were many cars in the parking lot, mostly Genesis and some Hyundai and Kia vehicles as if it were an auto showroom too. However, the dark gray color of the main entrance on the first floor emphasized the traditional touch supplied by the light brown wooden support beams.

Inside the building, there were only 10 Genesis cars on display, and they were spread out on different floors. According to Hyundai Motor, Genesis Cheongju is the largest of any luxury brand showroom in the world, with 6,953 square meters of floor space across eight levels.

That might sound like too much space to showcase only 10 cars. But a visit to Genesis Cheongju showed it was utilized to the fullest to blend the luxury brand philosophy and the region’s cultural heritage.

The sixth floor, which is the highest, housed a community lounge that repeated the exterior colors of black and dark gray. It’s connected to a balcony with a glass wall in between, which gave a sense of openness and nature thanks to the mini-garden in the balcony. Genesis said the community lounge hosts various classes and exhibitions.

Next to the community lounge, there was an owner’s lounge exclusively for Genesis drivers. The owners’ lounge recreated Korea’s traditional floor covering so that Genesis owners feel at home during their visit.

The staircases between floors showcased sketches and detail shots of Genesis’ concept cars.

The fifth floor featured a special exhibition in collaboration with local artist Cho Sung-ho with metal artworks embedding Genesis’ brand philosophy, such as a large clamshell hood with a Genesis logo standing tall.

Genesis plans to continue with a series of exhibitions in the region. On the other side of the exhibition was a Genesis G90 black edition.

Along with Genesis sedan models, the fourth floor featured an entire wall dedicated to provide an integrated color, material and finish, or CMF, experience where visitors could try out numerous CMF combinations for their envisioned Genesis cars. Radio-frequency identification technology showed videos telling the story behind every exterior paint option.

The third floor displayed the sport utility vehicles of Genesis as well as a lifestyle collection that included golf goods, miniatures of Genesis cars and other items. The second floor, which had a smaller space than other floors, showcased the entire Genesis collection, including home and office items.

Genesis said its latest showroom has already drawn over 10,000 visitors since it opened on April 25.

“This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Genesis,” said Song Min-kyu, executive vice president at Genesis business division.

“The purpose (of Genesis Cheongju) is to allow our customers to understand the vehicles more and experience them. Another goal is to let them feel what kind of brand Genesis is. As we are in Cheongju, we put every bit of Genesis into every detail of this facility so that it can serve as a local community hub where people can visit any time.”