Taichung, Taiwan

Designed by WOHA, together with Archiman Architects, Sky Green a mixed-use development located at the heart of Taichung in a densely developed and vibrant neighborhood, adapted to suit the local culture and subtropical climate, as well as to ensure safety during earthquakes and typhoons.

The new development won a recent 2020 Good Design® Award from The Chicago Athenaeum.

The site is made up of two rectangular plots, one facing the main city thoroughfare, Gongyi Road, and the other facing Daying Street, a quieter secondary street.

The development consists of two 26-storey residential towers with apartment units from level 4 onwards, as well as retail spaces.

To connect to its setting, and the hustle and bustle of the streets, the building’s retail spaces are located from ground level to level 3.

The shops have staggered patterned glass cladding to give an urban backdrop to the tree-lined pedestrian walkways and modern outdoor street furniture.

Away from the busy street life, an intimate, serene landscaped courtyard greets the residents as they return to their homes.

Above the retail shops rise the two residential towers as well as generous recreation facilities for indoor and outdoor activities.

Both towers have deeply recessed windows and the façades are enveloped with protruding balconies with trees, sky gardens and mesh screens that serve as a trellis for green creeper plants.

Archiman Architects’ landscaping is treated as a key material in creating the building envelope for the residential towers. The façade elements create deep sun-shading and the greenery acts as an active and living interface between the interior and exterior environment.

Large sky terraces at every five floors within the block extend the living space of residents from indoors to outdoors, creating a biophilic environment within a high-rise development.

Every unit is visually connected to the greenery outside their apartment windows.

A series of open, yet sheltered sky gardens, terraces, balconies, and planters create a breathable façade and visual interest, enhancing the real estate value of these apartments in a densely built-up area while providing spatial relief to apartment owners.

The architectural strategies of Sky Green are new for Taichung, but they have been developed by WOHA over the last 25 years, and many prototypes have been successfully built in Singapore and other regions.

As the first high-density development in Taichung that also provides high amenity with its recreational facilities and ample integrated green spaces, Sky Green will be influential in defining the new benchmark of sustainability and sky-rise greenery for the city’s future developments.

Project: Sky Green Residential & Retail Tower
Architects: WOHA
Design Team: Wong Mun Summ, Richard Hassell, Pearl Chee Siew Choo, See Jian Fa, Lin Li Ping,
Billy Novia Prima, Tay I-Lin, Nick Puah, John Paul R Gonzales, Josephine Isip, and Anthony Wong
Architects of Record: Archiman Architects Planners Associates
Landscape Architects: Feng Chia University Architecture Research Design Centre
Client: Golden Jade Construction & Development Corp
Photographers: Kuomin Lee