Taiwan Science Complex
Taiwan
Our proposal for the Centers for Disease Control develop a response to a wide
range of functional requirements by expressing the scientific nature of disease,
its physical and conceptual structures, and the research methodologies used to
understand disease.
Four linear buildings provide increased surface area for day lighting almost all
program spaces. Sun screens and
high performance glazing moderate heat gain.
The first two levels house primarily administrative, public service and
emergency functions. Four towers
emerge from each linear building to house increasing critical or toxic lab
functions. Service cores centralize vertical circulation, mechanical
chases, restrooms and emergency exhaust systems.
From the main entry at the southeast corner, a large foyer welcomes the
public. A grand stair leads to the
auditorium level. Parking is placed
in two below-grade levels, allowing access to the lower level auditorium and
ground level foyer. At ground
level, the outward flaring of the tall screen to the south acts as a vertical
gateway as the entry becomes an extension of the greenway path.
At the interactive, symbolic, expressive core of the project is a circulation
screen bridging the long south east edge of the site.
This screening element binds a horizontally and vertically weaving
circulation spine, filtering and controlling degrees of public and private
access. Visitors coming to the
Center will be crucial to its success. From private companies, to the academic community and general
public, various degrees of access will be allowed. More importantly, the screen and corridors which branch off
form an intriguing path to be explored and, instill a sense of transparency to
the work at the complex. At
key moments, corridor paths penetrate the cell wall of the linear buildings to
allow deeper views into specified labs at different levels.
As per the program, the public journey culminates in a view of the
BSL-3 lab at the top of a tower. At
the same time, scientists and administrators are able to control degrees of
access into the deep layout perpendicular to the main passages as well as enjoy
informal meetings and breaks at the peripheral screen spaces.
Four types of screen modules , (A, T, C, & G), containing varying densities
of evenly staggered hole patterns, varying in depth and interval express layers
of function, circulation, public and private.
The screens are made of bamboo plywood; inexpensive, highly sustainable
and wonderfully tactile. The outer
layer is a graceful curtain wall. Large
openings in the long screen provide outdoor terraces and views to the mountains
beyond. They also reveal the color
coded ceramic interior panels which replace the cement boards when the linear
buildings come under the cover and, adjacent to, the screen.
The colors express the range and interweaving of program.
Autos driving on the parkway and, pedestrians in the green belt coming
from the train station or from the campus to the east, will see the tall, folded
plates of bamboo behind the glass curtain wall.
The large apertures then reveal the dense, complex and open nature of the
work being done inside.
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