Taichung, Taiwan
Project Overview Taichung Yingcai Road was officially handed over to the owner in 2024. The entire project took five years. The architect uses several round elements as the void space. The volume is designed with two-dimensional arcs and three-dimensional round geometric’ designs. Among them, the concave sphere is the most challenging part of the whole construction process. In this case, the fair-faced concrete subdivision system is adjusted and designed overall using 60cm x 180cm as the basic size, and the elegance of this project is emphasized with the subdivision and the slender site.
Taichung Yingcai Road received an 2025 International Architecture Honourable Mention from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.
According to the function of the commercial space, the designer chooses gray and white granite as the floor pavement. Other materials are followed with the designer’s previous style. The overall design becomes more attractive by the combination of the round elements and the volume. Project Brief This project is located in the shopping area district of Taichung, surrounded by many commercial buildings and green landscape belts. Therefore, as a commercial building in the city center, it can be functionally connected to various areas in Taichung very quickly.
This case is constructed with fair-faced concrete. In terms of design method, the architect used round elements as the architectural technique this time, mainly to balance the rigidity and sharpness brought by the square geometry, and to use smooth elements to reduce the visual impact of this building on people. The architect designs an exterior staircase on the side of the main building. It is intended to let this staircase be another feature of the overall planning, and the staircase is designed back inside so that outside pedestrians can focus on the main body, and people inside can appreciate the structural beauty presented by this staircase.
There are many important features in this project. First of all, the entrance on the first floor shows the void architectural method to connect and organize the space on the first and second floors. When visitors enter the building, the visual will guide them to enter the space on the second floor, and the other floors correspond to this floor’s business space. Secondly, focusing on the materials, the texture of exposed concrete, and various wood materials show the inherent qualities to convey a peaceful feeling to people. Thus, the materials in this project greatly reduce its environmental impact.
Architects: Mao, Shen-Chiang Architecture Studio
Lead Architect: Shen-Chiang Mao
General Contractor: Shih Ao Fair-faced Concrete
Client: Yangtze Product Corp.
Photographers: Lee, Kuo-Min
