Most of the Hua Nan Bank’s neighbors down Songren Road have towers growing out of podiums that gradually step back from the street, but this building rises 27 stories from a straight-faced three-story podium. As the German architectural critic Ulf Meyer wrote, it “follows the modernist paradigm of a solitary tower on a plaza, which does not do much to animate the streetscapes around it.” However, the erection of Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building in New York demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach as a way of maximizing the visibility of the main elevation.
The exoskeleton of the bank is clad in brown granite imported from Brazil, a color that unites it with the KYA-designed Kelti Tower to its north, and native plants are dotted around the foot of the bank, irrigated solely by rain and gray water.
The urban planning laws of Xinyi District posed great challenges to the sustainability strategy of the building. The east–west orientation of the site, with the main elevation facing west, went against the fundamental principles of a conventional “green” architecture, but the design team managed to acquire gold ratings in both LEED and EEWH—in particular, with the use of narrow floor plates that allow daylight to reach deep into the building, and a green roof that retains water for recycling. Rainwater is harvested for irrigation, and gray water is reused for flushing toilets. The “sky gardens” act as thermal buffers that reduce solar gain from the west-facing facade, each complemented by a large ceiling fan and one of eight varieties of tree to aid destratification.
The architectural characteristics that set the Hua Nan Bank apart can only be fully appreciated upon exploration of its interior, from the delicate beauty of the sky gardens, to the plants, high ceilings, balconies, Chinese-style louvers, and various other environmentally friendly details throughout. Together, they deliver an exciting new standard for high-rise design in Taiwan.
