The story of the Nantun Tower begins with a deep understanding of the extended neighborhood itself. This new residential tower is located in Nantun, one of the oldest and most vibrant districts in Taichung City. The modern 22-story tower creates a new synergy for the future of this district’s development built upon the logic of existing urban settlement patterns. Bounded on both the north and south by highly local Taiwanese Streets, the design of the landscape seeks to inject as much ‘green’ as possible onto the existing, treeless streets, blurring the typical separation often experienced at the edge of sidewalks and along legal boundary distinctions. In this case, along the northern edge, the sidewalk has been integrated into the design of the garden, providing public use of the garden as a moment for pause, a comfortable place to sit under the shade of large, new street trees. The garden is defined by a rich layering of understory plant materials, natural stone monoliths and flowering understory trees. Stone monoliths weave with bands of planting in the front yard in layers to give the narrow garden a feeling of depth and enhance the sense of privacy from the street. 

The southern face of the property, where there was no previous sidewalk, has been redefined by a broad, tree lined sidewalk. Two dozen large metasequoia trees line this new pedestrian way and make larger, east/west connections back to commercial streets. 

The design of this project minimizes the impact/role of the automobile and, instead, establishes a decidedly pedestrian scaled language of design, which is in keeping with the nature of the surrounding neighborhood where public transportation is abundant. 

Internal to the site and as extensions of interior amenity programs, the design team created a series of terraces defined by natural materials, cooling water walls, reflecting pools, the planting of large trees and a diverse planting palette of mature understory plantings. 

From a technical point of view, the entirety of the grade level landscape is atop the garage structure below. This required all planting – especially the mature tree planting – and fountain pools to be closely coordinated with the structure. Stone panels and tiles clad every wall and floor surface.
 
An open terrace at roof level offers additional social space as well as great views to the Mansin Forest Park to the north and to the Nantun District as a whole.

Name of the project: Nantun Residential Tower
Project location: Taichung, Taiwan
Design year: 2015 – 2017
Year Built: 2018

Additional Project Credits:

Architect: CBT, Boston, MA
General Contractor: Pao Huei Construction Co., Ltd, Taichung City, Taiwan
Lighting Consultant: Lighting Design Alliance, Long Beach, CA
Photography: John Horner Photography, Somerville, MA

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