Archdaily presents another competition entry from the Taiwan Tower Competition in Taichung City by Aedas R&D in collaboration of Thornton Tomasetti and Phaconsult. T he conceptual development for the project came from the geometry of a pebble dropped into the sea, and the shape of the tower was derived from the patterns that emerge on the surface of the water as the concequence. The rippling effect on the water was taken to develop the landscaping around the tower, as well its extrusion into the wrapping skin of the tower.
More on this project after the break.
The Tower is woven into its surrounding in the new Gateway Park through a series of ripples that form terraces and bridges that connect it to the landscape. The structure emerges out of the park and rises out of the park to a height of 370 meters. Aedas R&D and Thornton Tomasetti jointly devised a parametric model to control the tower’s form, optimize floor space area and determine the number, size, pitch and distribution of the structural ribbons to fulfill architectural and engineering requirements. The tapered ribbons that are an aesthetic measure to wrap the tower also function structurally, with the wider ribbons acting as load bearing elements and the thinner members helping to stiffen the structure.
The same ribbons that define the structure’s height, define its base. The wide base of the tower and the horizontal ribbons that spiral from it are a dramatic reception to visitors that compositionally provides a smoother transition between the horizontal landscape and the verticality of the tower. The building publicly permeable at ground level and accommodates the entrance lobby and a spiraling museum. The office spaces that rise above the museum are accessible via a separate set of footbridges which lead up to the second lobby where the offices start. This creates a visual continuity between the various uses of the tower. The top of the structure houses a restaurant and observatory platform, which also arrives out of the concept of detached water droplets suspended in the air before falling back to Earth.
The team made it a priority to reduce the tower’s energy footprint by incorporating passive design strategies into various parts of the building. The design allows for natural light and air penetration by reducing the slab depth. The central atrium is also a measure to allow more light and air into the tower. The façade surface is offset inward to provide shading for the building while maintaining the conceptual form. Aedas R&D suggest that the design makes use of wind and solar energy systems, rainwater collection, ground source heat pumps and bio-fuel harvesting from container grown algae.
