Group 1 - UD Case Study - Kaohsiung

National Kaohsiung Centre| Introduction
National Kaohsiung Centre

Location: Client: Designed by Dutch architects Mecanoo,
Fengshan, Taiwan Preparatory Office of The the extraordinary architecture of
Wei-Wu-Ying Center for the Arts Weiwuying is inspired by the sinuous
canopy created by clusters of banyan
of the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan
Architects: trees commonly found in the region. The
Mecanoo single sweeping building covers a surface
Local Architect: area of 35 acres (141,000 sqm) and is set in
Archasia Design Group Structural Engineer:Supertech the spectacular 116-acre (470,000 sqm)
Roof And Facade Consultant:CWI subtropical park in the heart of Kaohsiung,
making it the world’s largest performing
Year:
arts centre under one roof as well as
2018
Taiwan’s most significant cultural
investment in a generation. It incorporates
five state of the art performance spaces: a
2,236-seat Opera House, a 1,981-seat
Site Area:
Concert Hall, a 1,210-seat Playhouse, a
4,70,000 sqm
434-seat Recital Hall and an Outdoor
Ground Coverage:
Theater linking the building to the park.
1,41,000 sqm
Image 1.1 : Landscape in the woods.
Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Image 1.1 :National Kaohsiung Centre Model
School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi | 2021 Diljotpal Singh Khushi Sarkar Shashwat Prakhar Uday Pratap Gupta
National Kaohsiung Centre| Concept
Concept
Kaohsiung, with a population of
around 3 million, located in the
south of Taiwan, once a major
international harbour, is now a
modern, diverse city with a rich
cultural offer. The new National
Kaohsiung Center for the Arts,
occupying a site that was
formerly a military training base,
symbolises the developing
outlook for the city of
Kaohsiung and Taiwan – with a
mission to connect local and
global talent through arts and
culture.Inspired by the local
Banyan trees, the vast,
undulating steel structure
connects an extensive range of
functions.
Image 1.2 : Concept Image 1.3 : Conceptual Sketches

National Kaohsiung Centre| Concept
Image 1,4 : Conceptual Sections Image 1.5 : Conceptual Diagram Circulation

National Kaohsiung Centre | Kaohsiung
Image 1,7 : Site Location - Micro Level
Yushan Macro Context

Range
● The city of Kaohsiung stretches from it’s coastal
urban centre to the rural Yushan Range
Title
● The Port of Kaohsiung is the largest and busiest
harbour in Taiwan
● Political, economic and industrial centre of

Southern Taiwan
Port of
Kaohsiung
Image 1,6 : Site Location - Macro Level Image 1,8 : Site Location - Meso Level

National Kaohsiung Centre | Movement Systems - Roads
Guotai Road
Sun-Yatsen Freeway
Sanduo 1st Road

Zhongzheng 1st Road
Image 1.9 : Major roads near the site

● Situated on the junction of 2 major roads adjacent to a major freeway inside the residential zone of the city making the site very active publicly.
● Utilizing the road connectivity by creating a porous interface between the busy junction and the center with the use of organic branching pathways.
● Occupying a site that was formerly a military training base, symbolises the developing outlook for the city of Kaohsiung and Taiwan.

National Kaohsiung Centre | Movement Systems - Public Transport
Yellow Line
Image 2.0 : Public transport surrounding the site

● The building is well connected to the city with one of the exits of the Weiwuying Station directly adjacent to the site boundary

National Kaohsiung Centre | Micro Context
Elementary School Elementary School

High School
Kaohsiung City Council Junior High School
Metropolitan Park
Armed Forces General

Hospital
Image 2.1 : Micro context showing prominent buildings and parks

● The building respects its context by incorporating numerous small parks in its site along the road thus blurring the boundary between the road and the plaza
● Since the building is in a residential area, there are no boundary walls between the plaza and the metropolitan park facilitating seamless transition of the inhabitants and making the space available
for everyone

National Kaohsiung Centre | Micro Context
Sanduo 1st Road Guotai Road
Vehicular access to site
Pedestrian access to site from the Metropolitan

Metropolitan Park park
Image 2.2 : Site entries
● The Metropolitan park is the heart and soul of the residential area where the plaza
is situated and the plaza acknowledges and respects that by responding to the
park with an OAT facing towards the park thus facilitating numerous activities and
enabling the whole park to serve as an extension of the plaza.
Metropolitan ● The Metropolitan park also guides the main entrance towards the plaza further
Park emphasizing that the plaza is centered around the inhabitants of the city and not
the vehicles.
Image 2.3 : Sketch showing the linkage between the building and the park

National Kaohsiung Centre| Built Form
Stadium
Hospital
SITE
Site
Main Cores
Kaohsiung City
Council
Metropolitan Park
Junior High
School
225
m
0m
16
Elementary
School
Built Form Landscaping
Senior High
School
Elementary
Image 2,5 : Built Form
School
Image 2.4 : Figure Ground

National Kaohsiung Centre| Circulation
North Entrance (Pedestrian)
Site Plan
West Entrance (Pedestrian)
West Entrance/Exit
(Vehicular)
East Entrance (Pedestrian)
East Entrance/Exit (Vehicular)
South Entrance (Pedestrian)
Image 2.6 : Site Plan Interface with Metropolitan park (Pedestrian)

National Kaohsiung Centre| Circulation
North Entrance (Pedestrian)
West Entrance
(Pedestrian)
West Entrance/Exit
(Vehicular) East Entrance (Pedestrian)
East Entrance/Exit (Vehicular)
South Entrance (Pedestrian)
Interface with Metropolitan park (Pedestrian)
Image 2.7 : Circulation

National Kaohsiung Centre| Spaces
3203.64 sq
m
Recital hall
8004.23 sq m
Lyric theater
Play house 20920.64 sq m
13183.76 sq m
Concert hall
Main 13183.76 sq m
2604.15
entrance
sq m
2608. 55 sq m Image 2.9 : Seating distribution in the centre

OAT
Image 2.8 : Spaces

National Kaohsiung Centre| Area Program
Program Area (sq m)
Services 3203.64
Recital Hall 8004.23
Lyric theater 20920.64
Play house 13183.76
Main entrance 2604.15
OAT 2608. 55
Banyan plaza 93083.58
Ground coverage 141000
Site Area: 470000
Landscaping 329000

National Kaohsiung Centre| Spaces and Circulation
Lyric theater Recital hall
Play house
Concert hall
Banyan Plaza
Main entrance
OAT
Image 3.0 : Spaces and Circulation

National Kaohsiung Centre| Banyan Plaza
Image 3.1 : Key Plan Banyan Plaza
Image 3.2 : Section Through the Banyan Plaza
The Banyan Plaza
It lies between the four formal performance halls, which form the ‘trunks’ that support the undulating roof.The plaza flows
amoebically through the building.
,
Image 3.4 : Banyan Plaza Diagram

Image 3.3 : Diagram of the Banyan Plaza showing Partially enclosed public space and Easy flow of wind

National Kaohsiung Centre| Banyan Plaza
Image 3.5 : Silent movie night, Tai Chi, Yoga, dancing classes, children activities. Image 3.6 : Banyan Plaza becomes the living room of Kaohsiung. National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts
(Weiwuying)
:

National Kaohsiung Centre| Open Air Theatre
West Entrance
North Entrance
Image 3.7 : Key Plan Open Air Theatre

Open Air Theatre
The Open Air Theater is located south of the main structure with
the sky as a backdrop stretches from floor to ceiling.The design
has taken into account the wind and landscape directions. With
the magnificent sunset view, the open space allows the breeze
to circulate.
Sun Set View
East Entrance
South Entrance
Open Air
Theatre
Wind Direction
Image 3.8 : Section Through the Banyan Plaza
Image 3.9 : Open Air Theatre Diagram

National Kaohsiung Centre| Open Air Theatre
Image 4.0 : The curved line without borders and the seats break the design conventions of the performance space Image 4.1 : The Amphitheater is an atypical theatrical space where the public can appreciate the most diverse
performances.

National Kaohsiung Centre| Concert Hall
Allows the audience, no matter the height, to enjoy the same acoustic and
visual optical effects
Shaped like a stepped vineyard
Image 4.2 : Key Plan
Concert Hall
Central Stage
The main stage consists of 5 rows of a total of 15 orchestra lifts. Hung

above the stage are acoustic shells that can be lowered or raised,
which come with three preset positions at 9m, 14m and 17.8m, to go
along with various requirements of musical performances and sizes of
bands. The height and angle of the acoustic shells can also be freely
adjusted to meet any needs, ensuring that audience can enjoy sounds
of the best quality.
Image 4.4 : Concert Hall Model
Image 4.3 : Section Through the Concert Hall

Image 4.5 : Circulation inside the Concert Hall
Stage
Image 4.6 : Concert Hall

National Kaohsiung Centre| Playhouse
Image 4.9 : Proscenium Stage Image 5.0 : Thrust Stage
The layout is adaptable and can be changed from a typical proscenium stage, with the audience in
front, to a thrust stage with the audience on three sides.
Stage
Image 5.1 : Playhouse

Image 4.8 : Section Through the Playhouse
The design facilitates interaction between the audience and

Playhouse performers, allowing the audience to feel the dramatic
tensions. The proscenium stage with the orchestra pit elevator
The Playhouse, with its 1210-seat in Mecanoo Blue, is designed to host a variety of drama has a capacity of 1,231 seats; when configured into thrust stage
and dance performances. Flexibility is the core element in the design of this that stretches into the seating area, the Playhouse can
multifunctional space.The thrust stage design shortens the distance between the accommodate 1,067 seats.
audience and performers, so that the audience can perceive the emotions of the
performers at close proximity;
Image 5.2 : Playhouse Circulation
National Kaohsiung Centre| Recital Room
Image 5.6 : Recital Room Circulation
Stage
Image 5.5 : Section Through the Recital Room Image 5.7 : Recital Room
Recital Room
The Recital Room design is a variation on the traditional shoebox style. Short partition wall is erected along the
The Recital Hall is mainly for chamber music, solo recitals, or other smaller performances.
centerline of the seating area to convert the Recital Hall into a vibrantly asymmetrical shoebox, while also
The sound-absorption can be adjusted to meet the needs with diverse types of
providing reflection of direct sounds for the front seating area
performances, providing the most optimal acoustic effect,

National Kaohsiung Centre| Opera House
Image 6.0 : Opera House Circulation
Image 5.9 : Section Through the Opera House Image 6.1 : Opera House
Opera House
The seats are arranged in a horseshoe shape, where the ground floor seating area is divided into zones
The 2236-seat Opera House is a large-scale stage mainly used for operas, major drama by short partition walls, and the balconies on the second and third levels feature continuous horizontal
productions, dances, and interdisciplinary performances. It is the largest such facility in lines to provide continuity and a sense of rhythm.
Taiwan.

National Kaohsiung Centre | Floor Plans
Image 6.2 : Plan at 10 m Image 6.3 : Plan at 15 m

National Kaohsiung Centre | Floor Plans
Image 6.4 : Plan at 20 m Image 6.5 : Roof Plan

National Kaohsiung Centre| Sections 2
Image 6.6 : Section 1
Image 6.7 : Section 2

National Kaohsiung Centre | Sectional Zoning Diagram
The Banyan Plaza [1] The Concert Hall [3] is a performance space The Recital Hall [4] with its
‘in the round’. asymmetrical layout.
The Lyric Theatre [2] has vast fly wings above, backstage storage behind the stage The Playhouse [5] is the most flexible performance venue designed for a wide variety of
and a vast underground technical storage facility. drama and dance events
Image 6.8 : Sectional Zoning Diagram

National Kaohsiung Centre| Landscaping
A balance between hard and soft
landscaping accommodate event spaces
and logistical access, while creating a
gradient of green towards the neighboring
Weiwuying park.
The partially grass and plant-covered roof

creates natural and efficient building cooling
in the subtropical climate.
Image 6.9 : Landscape showing blurred lines

National Kaohsiung Centre| Landscaping
s
th
pa
g
rin
de
e an
M
Image 7.0 : Landscape showing similar design characteristics
The park design is a logical continuation of the theatre complex with its open public spaces and roof scape:
building and landscape merge naturally, forming a unified whole.Because of the openings in the roof, the
passageways and open spaces, an almost porous building is created, in which interior and exterior blur.
Image 7.1 : Lighting

National Kaohsiung Centre| Structure
Image 7.3 : Sectional model showing structure

Image 7.2 : Structural Process

Concert Halls
Mushroom Supports
Outdoor Performance
Internal Linking Trusses
External Linking Trusses
Image 7.4 : Structure diagram showing the type of support and trusses in the plan
Image 7.4 : Structure diagram showing the type of support and trusses in the plan
The building is structurally composed of steel columns and trusses.Reinforced
concrete is also used primarily for the concert halls (highlighted in yellow in image
below) and will act as an acoustical barrier along with another barrier in order to
prevent any outside noise from entering the concert halls.
Image 7.7 : Interior
The interior also features color lighting,

creating temporal effects and moods within
the different spaces. The image above is an
actual prototype of the interior form that is
used in the building.
Image 7.6 : Structure forms

Image 7.5 : Structure type zoning diagram

National Kaohsiung Centre| Exploded View
Image 7.8 : Exploded View

Ship building techniques
The hull surface is first modelled in a production design software. Welding seams and
butts are marked in advance. The desired shape of the plate in the computerised format
is called the virtual 3D patch. Algorithms are so designed that this serves as an input to
the CNC machine which cuts out a 2D plate of such shape and size (which is called 2D
blank), so that when the 2D blank is hot-worked, it produces the required 3D surface
geometry. Image 8.0 :Detail of the roof showing stiffeners
Further these panels are attached to the steel structure using dampers.
GRG panels (approximately 5 x 8 m) with Glass Fiber Reinforced

stiffeners on the back of the 6mm thick Gypsum
skin steel plate. Panels welded together
Image 7.9 : GRG Panels

Image 8.1 : Placement of the panels
Image 8.3 Springs to absorb wind loads on the building skin Image 8.4 Springs

National Kaohsiung Centre| Inferences
● The National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts symbolizes the transformation of Kaohsiung, once a major international harbour, into a modern, diverse city with a rich cultural climate.
● Mecanoo designed the National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts, located on a former military terrain, as an integral part of the adjacent subtropical park to have a positive social impact on
the residents of Kaohsiung whose population counts almost 3 million.
● Inspired by the local Banyan trees with their iconic crowns, the vast, undulating structure is composed of a skin and roof, and connects an extensive range of functions. The curved steel
structure was built in cooperation between a local and a Dutch shipbuilder. Underneath this roof is Banyan Plaza, a generous, sheltered public space.
● Residents can wander through here day and night, practice Tai Chi or stage street performances along walkways and in informal spaces. An open-air theatre nestles on the roof where the
structure curves to the ground, with the surrounding park forming the stage.
● Designed with the subtropical climate in mind, the open structure allows the wind to blow freely through Banyan Plaza. The seamless flow between interior and exterior creates opportunities
for crossovers between formal and informal performances.
● Different theatres such as the 1981-seat Concert Hall and 2236-seat Opera House are located in the five cores or ‘legs’ of the building where the structure meets the ground. The cores
connect with one another via foyers in the roof and an underground service floor which houses the backstage area of each theatre.


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National Kaohsiung Centre| Introduction

National Kaohsiung Centre

Image 1.1 : Landscape in the woods.

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Image 1.2 : Concept Image 1.3 : Conceptual Sketches

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Image 1,4 : Conceptual Sections Image 1.5 : Conceptual Diagram Circulation

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Image 1,7 : Site Location - Micro Level

Yushan Macro Context

● Political, economic and industrial centre of

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Sanduo 1st Road

Image 1.9 : Major roads near the site

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Image 2.0 : Public transport surrounding the site

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Elementary School Elementary School

Armed Forces General

Image 2.1 : Micro context showing prominent buildings and parks

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Sanduo 1st Road Guotai Road

Vehicular access to site

Pedestrian access to site from the Metropolitan

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Image 2.4 : Figure Ground

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

West Entrance (Pedestrian)

East Entrance (Pedestrian)

East Entrance/Exit (Vehicular)

South Entrance (Pedestrian)

Image 2.6 : Site Plan Interface with Metropolitan park (Pedestrian)

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

North Entrance (Pedestrian)

East Entrance/Exit (Vehicular)

South Entrance (Pedestrian)

Interface with Metropolitan park (Pedestrian)

Image 2.7 : Circulation

Play house 20920.64 sq m

2608. 55 sq m Image 2.9 : Seating distribution in the centre

Image 2.8 : Spaces

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Program Area (sq m)

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Lyric theater Recital hall

Image 3.0 : Spaces and Circulation

Image 3.1 : Key Plan Banyan Plaza

Image 3.2 : Section Through the Banyan Plaza

The Banyan Plaza

Image 3.4 : Banyan Plaza Diagram

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Image 3.7 : Key Plan Open Air Theatre

Image 3.8 : Section Through the Banyan Plaza

Image 3.9 : Open Air Theatre Diagram

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Large Span Design Studio, 7th Semester

Image 4.2 : Key Plan

The main stage consists of 5 rows of a total of 15 orchestra lifts. Hung

Image 4.4 : Concert Hall Model