Tainan City, Taiwan
Aristotle once stated that “all art is the imitation of natural form and intrinsic nature.”
With this quote guiding their design process, the team of Cheng Sheng Interior Design has created the Shell Palace for Highwealth Construction Corp. in Taiwan, mimicking forms from nature, in particular, marine biology.
For its visionary design, Shell Palace has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
In addition to having the base close to the sea, accentuating the smooth marine point in the city amongst the great number of tall buildings, the design inspiration for this project also originated from the designer’s observations on natural ecology.
The result is the combination of an artificial circular volume, the golden ratio of the cross-section of a nautilus, with the concept of evolution and biomimicry, thereby subverting the standard model of conventional buildings that focuses mainly on horizontal and vertical contours.
With a height of 8 meters and indoor area of over 500 square meters, the commercial purpose of this project is mainly real estate marketing, as well as reinforcing the brand image.
The pure white external shell is constructed with a gravel-like coating that appears exceptionally dazzling under the sunny sky.
Some issues the building attempts to address are how to obtain the ideal segmented overlapping of arc surfaces, the geometric gradual variations, the differences between the contours, and the radius of the hollow circular volume, all of which have been through several detailed computer simulations and brainstorming from the team, making it a true challenge for its construction and engineering.
Ultimately, after its completion, the vivid spiral image can be observed from the side or from above, not only stirring visitors’ curiosity and introducing a dynamic sentiment to the static volume, but also further creating a sense of charm filled with imagination.
The center of the building is presented with an open courtyard, as well as a fountain – symbolizing water as the source of life.
The smooth circulation of the sunlight corridor embraces the rich greenbelt inside, while the circularly connected indoor space is fused with the rising and falling image of waves, incorporating the arched ceiling imitating a skeleton shell.
The model house resembles the pearl, while the sequential extension of light-colored wooden grids implies the texture of a beach, and the randomly suspended jellyfish lights that mutually reflect with their colorful glass resemble great numbers of fish, forming a lively marine ecology.
Project: Shell Palace
Architects: Cheng Sheng Interior Design
General Contractor: Cheng Sheng
Client: Highwealth Construction Corp.
Photographers: Cheng Sheng Interior Design
