DunHua City Plaza
DunHua City Plaza creates a dramatic new gateway to the neighborhood.
DunHua City Plaza is a new urban renewal mixed-use building that sits adjacent to the major green spine in Taipei's Shongshan District. The project combines retail, office, and residential in a striking public-facing design.
The site is not far from the airport, and this proximity drove some of the design decisions: programmatically, it meant attracting both local and international clientele, while height limitations meant a maximum of 20 floors.
The master plan creates two towers while allowing light and air to flow between them. At the lower levels, the towers are connected by a podium of terracing gardens, which visually connect the tower to the greenway that runs through DunHua North Road on which the project sits. This podium includes a mix of retail and F&B, and extends 3 1/2 floors below grade.
Above, the towers have been shaped to take advantage of views to the nearby green spine and to Downtown Taipei. The southern tower includes commercial office space and anchors the intersection with a dramatic curving facade. The northern tower also includes office as well as roughly 200 serviced apartments across thirteen floors. The office program of each tower is connected by a dramatic 2-story skybridge that is suspended above the podium. Amenities shared by both towers include a gym, wellness center, lounges, a coworking space with an amphitheater, two rooftop gardens, and an additional roof deck with an infinity pool.
The development's split massing maximizes natural light, expands outdoor space, and creates a public passage at ground level framed by retail and landscaped plazas at each end.
The design and landscaping at ground level serves to extend the greenspace of the adjacent park and the pedestrian experience of the streets behind the building.
A curvilinear glass tower holds the corner of DunHua and Nanjing and creates a belvedere overlooking the city.
A series of cascading gardens flow inside; at night, the gardens are illuminated, turning the leading edge of the building into a monumental lantern and an icon for workspace in the city.
The towers' intersecting volumes flow into each other without sharp angles, accentuated by a softly curving glazed curtain wall system that lends the expansive structure a sense of lightness.
Horizontal metal bands cut through the glass, breaking down the vertical scale. Three facade types further break down the massing, signaling changing programs within and providing sun-shading,
The development's split massing creates a public passage at ground level framed by retail and landscaped plazas at each end.
This maximizes natural light and expands outdoor space, while allowing greenspace to extend up onto the terraces. Skylights at grade and at the 4th floor both allow natural light into the retail spaces below. Landscaping includes tiered seating and water misting to create an enjoyable pedestrian experience.
At the podium level, the massing projects and recedes in succession, creating a series of stepped green terraces and overlooks positioned for views of the skyline and adjacent park.
The multilevel terraces are designed to offer opportunities for restaurants with outdoor dining. These planted overlooks and glazed atriums draw the eye upward while express escalators and public art on LED screens further enhance the sense of vertical movement and connectivity, engaging pedestrians and activating the street.
Additional greenspace is incorporated on the sun-facing East side with a series of indoor cascading biophilic gardens that run the full height of the office tower and serve as heat barrier.
The gardens are carefully alternated to allow fresh air to enter and ventilate the area, and for heat to transfer out. At night, the gardens are illuminated, turning the leading edge of the building into an oversized lantern visible for miles.
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The main office entrance is on Nanjing East Road, a block from the subway.
Here the glassy office tower is broken up by metal frames that extend outward and create a rhythm along the facade, while creating shade from the sun.
The serviced apartment entrance is off of DunHua North Road.
This entrance is marked by a dramatic expanse of glass that wraps the corner and fully embraces the adjacent greenery. Above, the volumes push and pull, creating a series of outdoor terraces that offer a pedestrian scale.
The podium recedes as it rises, creating stepped terraces with views of the adjacent greenway and skyline beyond.
The multilevel terraces include space for retail and outdoor dining. Above, a bridge visually ties the towers together and provides social and meeting space, while enhancing the towers' structural strength.
A smaller western plaza offers additional public space to the neighborhood.
Above, the towers' intersecting volumes flow into each other organically, accentuated by softly curving glass that lends the project a sense of lightness. Different facade expressions indicate the various underlying program elements. Vertical and horizontal metal banding cuts through the glass, visually tying the volumes together.
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