KEELUNG PORT TERMINAL

Designers: Florencia Pita & Jackilin Hah Bloom

Project Team: Marie-Sophie Starlinger, Wan Lee Makenzie Murphy, Freesia Torres, Jia Song, Danyal Sadiq, Emmy Maruta, Anass Benhachmi, Maria Soledad.

Keelung, Taiwan. July 2012

International Competition

Our proposal for the New Harbor Service Building Project is a porous base, five office towers and fifteen whimsical service columns. The large shaped columns anchor the plinth and towers to the site, symbolic of odd rock formations along the coastline and shipping container lifts. The curving profiles of the columns represent the edge of the coastline’s meandering outline. These fifteen columns are the primary structural elements which also house the circulation cores, mechanical units and water closets. The plinth is strategically designed to allow for the flow of cars and cargo on level 1F, the activity of the main port terminal on level 2F and VIP and ocean viewing on the mezzanine level of 2F. Shops and services are located on all levels, allowing for more efficient access to conveniences. Each level of the plinth contains a landscaped garden element. At the level 1F, the “Garden Atrium” provides light to the base level and is where the bike elevators are located. The bike elevators can be taken to level 3F, where bike parking is located. Level 3F in its entirety is the large “Plinth Roof Garden”. This level acts as a communal outdoor lobby for each office tower. Cafes, benches and raised landscapes allow for interaction and breezeways to occur naturally. Also the open space between the towers allow for “gateway” views to and from the ocean. The five towers are raised above this park area by the shaped columns and are accessible by the elevator cores which are located in these columns. The glass skin of the office towers are made up of a dense structural mullion pattern, with gradual changes in glass transparency. When seen from a cruise ship approaching the harbor, the building represents the unique rural and urban identity of its context, at the same time providing a single landmark image.