Despite unique climate challenges in the city of Keelung, Taiwan, the design for the Joint Office Building and Passenger & Cargo Terminal by de Architekten Cie. is an example of how one can naturally ventilate the building during the winter and shoulder seasons. This ambition reduces the energy consumption of the building dramatically and increases thermal comfort and delight. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Keelung has a fairly unique climate which combines the extreme humidity and heat of the tropics with the high winds and rain of the typhoon corridor which follows of the coast of the Asian continent. The result is perhaps one of the most difficult climates to build naturally ventilated and energy efficient buildings.
de Architekten Cie. based their design on two main principles: a zoned climate strategy – where the building is like an onion with different temperature and humidity layers based on function and number of users; and, aerodynamic efficient forms – the extremely constant wind direction and velocity mean that the form of the building is intended to maximize the possibility of using cross ventilation to exhaust hot air from the building during natural ventilation mode (almost half of the year).
The team of de Architekten Cie., led by Jason Lee and Branimir Medic, worked in close collaboration with German, climate engineers, Transsolar.
