MAA GROUP Consulting Engineering

A new modern digital library

This new library acts as replacement for the National Taichung Library, created in 1923 and moved several times due to the expansion of its collections, and as a new concept for libraries of the future, becoming a national resource for accessing, sharing, learning, storing and publishing digital information.

Established on a 2.16 ha site in downtown Taichung, the building consists of 5 floors with a total gross floor area of 42,000 sqm and two 2 basement levels for parking and storage. Built at a cost of NT$ 1.2 billion (US$ 40.8 billion), the library has 400,000 books in its collections.

Innovative architecture

The construction phase of the project proved challenging due to the innovative features of its design. The building’s free-formed skin with its curved planes and organic tree trunk-shaped columns challenged the limits of design and construction in Taiwan. Starting with the structural slanted columns and slab edges and continuing with a series of zigzagging curtain wall sub-frames that approximates the final undulating surface, the skin’s design was conceived from the inside-out. Finally, a composite wall system with integrated EPS insulation that molds to the folding surfaces was installed and clad with pearl-white round mosaic tiles of eight different sizes giving the skin a monocoque appearance. 3D design software was utilized extensively through the process and several on-site mock-ups were built.

Scope of work

MAA performed project and construction management services for this project, whose innovative design tested the limits of design and construction in Taiwan.