Taichung, Taiwan
The Taichung Condominium Tower site is located in the center of Taichung City in close vicinity to key civic buildings including the new Taichung City Hall, the Opera House, and the Convention Center. It is surrounded by a mixture of high and low-rise commercial and residential buildings and large public parks. Prominently positioned to have a vantage point of the new city center of Taichung, the site is bounded by the Shizheng Road promenade to the north and Wenxin 1st Road to the south.
The Taichung Condominium Tower is designed to be a striking addition to the city’s skyline. It will represent an iconic image for Taiwan’s future. Distinct and visible from long distances by day and night, it is a synthesis of innovative and elegant architecture, providing exclusive and unique homes with both generous views towards the city and intimate spaces for urban living.
The design comprises two distinct towers; a North Tower and a South Tower with different heights connected by a common core. The formal, ordered and geometric North Tower, addresses the larger city scale to the north, while the more expressive and sculptural form of the South Tower defines the main entrance to the building and relates to the smaller scale residential fabric to the south. In addition to the lobby, the three lower floors will contain various amenity spaces for the residents of the building, including a swimming pool, fitness center, lounge, massage rooms, and Western and Chinese banquet rooms.
The main facade of the South Tower is articulated with a gently curved white translucent glass screen, which provides privacy and filters daylight into the building, and allows unobstructed views from within the interior spaces. Overlays of transparent and translucent screens, as well as solar shading systems such as louvers, combine with solid surfaces to modulate varying degrees of exposure to the sun and of privacy. Natural light is carefully controlled for views and orientation, both in terms of how the building is perceived from its surroundings throughout the day, and in order to maximize daylight and views from within the interior spaces. The architectural expression of the podium, balconies, large scale screen walls, terraces, and voids offer a composition of light, shadows, various scales and depth.
A communal Sky Garden on the sixteenth floor of the North Tower provides a dramatic viewing promontory for residents to share and enjoy, creating an open and direct connection between the interior of the tower, and the vibrant urban setting of the site. Construction of the building is already underway and is set for completion in 2018.
