Winbond Electronics Corporation Zhubei Building | XRANGE Architects

For Winbond Corporation, a total memory solution provider in Taiwan, the Zhubei building is designed to reflect the client’s core value of fostering well being for workers, and commitment to ecological preservation and education. The design goal was to provide a green Gold Energy listed (the second highest energy designation in Taiwan), people-centric work space for collaboration and sharing while working within the uniform efficiency of cubicles that accommodates the legions of high tech workers occupying 19 floors of offices.

The concept of Green Pockets as places for physical and mental recharge becomes the driving force for the architecture. Green Pockets are refuge areas of greenery for resting, mingling, brainstorming and informal meetings away from the uniformity and long hours spent at the cubicles. Vertically stacked, these Green Pockets become large scale “flutings” on the tower and form the wavy design of the Tower of Green Pockets.

The form concept produced great environmental benefits upon solar heat gain analysis. Unlike large, flat, south facing curtain wall surface which would get constant direct solar exposure throughout the day, the wavy flutes of the tower create vertical shadow zones that glide across the tower’s elevation throughout the day in the exceedingly hot summers. In the winter, the wavy folds become favorable heat traps. The temperature of the curtain wall thus stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

The tower houses a dining floor with garden patio, a gym and a yoga studio. On the ground floor, there is a cafe and an exhibition gallery dedicated to environmental awareness and ecological preservation. Extending the architecture concept, wood is used extensively throughout the lobby. The 8m tall main lobby wall is clad in wood panels along its entire 90m length. A spiral staircase 6.8m in diameter connects the lobby to the meeting rooms on the second floor and the dining hall and garden on the third floor. A unique wood screen design that is created by vertical batons structurally interlocked with wooden blocks becomes the design language for railings and partition screens.

Winbond Electronics Corporation Zhubei Building auditorium is the highlight of the public programs. The auditorium juts off the ground floor to create an urban patio underneath. To reflect the client’s on-going support of art and culture, the auditorium showcases a unique wooden roof structure, based on the traditional Chinese dougong which is a stacked and cantilevered timber structure. The modernized dougong is crafted from engineered wood, which allows the dougong members to lift and cantilever at a diagonal to form a spacious diamond lattice of modular 8-point stars. The structure is visible from the street through a window wall at the top of the auditorium. The warm wood color on the entire ground floor gives a strong and continuous visual identity from the street.

[CHI]

華邦電子公司辦公大樓設計是希望為高科技工作者創造一處以人為出發點的工作場所，因此結合了有效率的辦公隔間，以及開放式的口袋型「綠叢空間」。如島嶼般的綠色社群空間，除了提供員工彈性互動的會議場所，亦是遠離電腦螢幕及休息的去處。每一層樓皆有多處「綠叢空間」，散佈於大樓南面及西南面的帷幕牆窗邊。綠叢空間的自然植栽與釋放出的芬多精，除了帶給員工好心情，更提供整棟大樓清淨的空氣。綠叢空間的垂直堆疊在大樓外觀呈現為弧形的玻璃柱狀體，因此塑造出辦公大樓獨特的波浪形外觀。

辦公大樓波浪形表面造型除了形成島嶼綠叢空間之外，也提升了整棟建築的環保機能。大樓南向及西向帷幕牆若是以平坦的設計，外牆整體就會長時間受到日照直射的影響，其熱負荷相當可觀，若為了維持室內舒適的溫度，可能將會大量而持續地消耗能源。以人為出發點的「綠叢空間」所衍生而出的弧形帷幕牆表面，因應著日照的路徑，在延綿凹凸的外牆產生了活躍的光影變化。帷幕牆內凹處的影子形成了外牆的遮蔽，避免外牆區會受到持續性的日照直射。因此，波浪外型設計的大樓表面有效減輕了建築本體的日射量，並提升節能效應，形成冬暖夏涼的辦公大樓。

十九層樓高的辦公大樓，空間規劃有辦公室、健身房、瑜珈教室及員工景觀餐廳。一樓大廳西側設置展示空間，可作為企業重視生態、保育與推廣的文化公益分享。

華邦電子竹北大樓大廳東側的演講廳是重要設計亮點，屋頂為木結構，以新環保材（集成結構木材）重新闡釋傳統實木斗拱結構。新形態斗拱系統以米字型模組構成菱形桁架，菱形幾何讓米字型斗拱模組可「斜角堆疊出挑」，突破了傳統實木條水平堆疊與出挑的限制，讓新形態斗拱系統呈現出空間穿透性及流動感，創新了傳統斗拱建築的語彙與表現。

Architecture Firm: XRANGE Architects / JJP Architects & Planners

Architects: Grace Cheung / Jong-Yu Cheng

Photography Credits: Kuo-Min Lee, Lorenzo Pierucci Studio