A public-spirited place

Located adjacent to Old Taipei City’s historic entrance, the North Gate, the Taipei Twin Towers are envisioned as a new gateway to Taipei. It is designed as a public-spirited destination that is inspired and enriched by the local culture. 

The development features an elevated promenade, multiple garden terraces, shopping arcades, a hotel, office space, and a series of cultural venues—collectively referred to as the Living Room. At the heart of the complex, an open-air, monumental stair forms a natural amphitheater overlooking the park to the south. To the north, multiple viewing terraces offer spectacular vistas of the Qixing Mountain, the highest peak of the Taipei Basin. 

Open to the public, the 12-story podium has outdoor space on every level, which can be traversed from the park up to the highest viewing terrace without entering the building. Landscaping on the terraces mirrors the native sequences and rich agricultural traditions of the Taipei Basin, including fragrant gardens, tea terraces, and forests.

The flared shape of the podium enables public events to span across multiple levels. At the top of the amphitheater stair, an oculus frames the view upward to the towers and the sky. A lightweight, retractable roof above the oculus can be used to temper the environment of the Living Room below.

Taipei Twin Towers aims to achieve high performance certifications from LEED, WELL, and EEWH, Taiwan’s comprehensive green building rating system.

Unifying the district with transit-oriented development

The Taipei Twin Towers physically and conceptually connect the city’s most active transportation centers to its historic districts. The development will rise directly above an active subway station—the terminal station of the Tayoun International Airport MRT. The project also connects to Taipei Main Station—the busiest station on three separate railway systems—via a new multi-story pedestrian walkway, dubbed the Taipei Corridor. By orienting new development around transportation, this project encourages the use of mass transit, prioritizes pedestrians, and, ultimately, lowers per capita emissions.

Integrating contemporary and historic architecture

Stretching nearly a kilometer along the south side of the site, the Taipei Corridor is a promenade that mediates the scales between the new development and the historic neighborhood. Its architecture recalls the atmospheric qualities of old Taipei, with a trellis-like structure inspired by the arcades of the Dadaocheng District. Beneath the Corridor, ground-level lobbies and retail expand the open-air market culture for which Taipei is known.

The promenade culminates in an elevated plaza overlooking numerous landmarks: the Mitsui Warehouse, the old Post Office, Taiwan Railway Museum, and the North Gate to Old Taipei City. Many attributes of the podium facade are inspired by the surrounding historic architecture, notably the dynamic double-skin curtain wall. The copper and silver-hued metal screens of this facade are set between layers of glass, and perforated with a traditional motif that evokes the curves of ceramic roof shingles, or the waveforms of tea fields. 

Design and engineering, with a sense of place

The overall form of the development—two elliptical and tapering towers joined by a porous, semi-outdoor podium—is a thoughtful response to its setting. 

The Taipei Basin is lush, mountainous, and highly urbanized. It was important that the design created deep connections between the natural and built environments, and preserved as much open space as possible. The towers’ curved edges reflect and open views of the landscape, rather than obstruct it. The soft edges continue throughout the podium, allowing it to visually blend with the adjacent park and surrounding buildings. 

The towers’ distinct geometry is highly aerodynamic, which improves structural resilience in an area prone to typhoons and seismic events. The structural system is designed to utilize the existing steel and pile foundations of the train station below and allow the station to continue operation throughout construction. The towers use a combination of shear walls, outriggers, concentric braced frames, and tuned sloshing dampers to resist the force of a seismic or weather event.