The king of Joseon Dynasty Jeong-jo commanded the renovation of Seongjeong-gak, once a study for crown prince, to serve as Pyeonjeon(便殿), a main office for kings. The renovated building strictly separated the routes designated for the king and the other officers, respectively. The interior space consisted of Youngnae, reserved for the king and his senior aides, and Youngwae, for lower ranking officers. Youngnae(楹內) and Youngwae(楹 外) corresponded to the two blocks (the space between two columns) on the east and west side, respectively. Such structure of Pyeonjeon was heavily transformed over several occasions beginning from the late nineteenth century. Youngwae was subdivided into separate spaces, and the routes for the king and the officers became indistinguishable.
Seongjeonggak Hall in Changdeokgung Palace, although built after the Japanese Invasion in 1592, displays the architectural style and structure of Early Joseon period. It did not include ondol (Korean floor heating system) and contained Early Joseon style window frames. Later, King Jeongjo installed ondol as he repaired the building into a more convenient office. The initial construction of Seongjeonggak Hall was based on the architectural ideology of the Early Joseon Period, which divided up the space according to the season. Thus, the initial structure of the building consisted of a joint of a one-story building and a two-story building with the top floor of the latter specialized for hot and humid season. The two-story building was called ‘chimnu(寢樓)’, and its top floor was called ‘nu-chimsil(樓寢室)’