Lite-On Electronic Headquarters

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In an age where all large-scale architectural endeavours are made possible only by collaboration between the design team and consultants, SWA Group works closely with the architects to develop landscape concepts that are a seamless extension of the overall scheme.

Situated in the densely developed capital city of Taipei, the corporate headquarters of Lite-On Electronic tended to be surrounded by buildings that seemed to merge within the urbanscape and had few features that would distinguish them from one another. In that respect, the individuality of the building lies in its three key objectives - designing an energy efficient and self-sustaining “green” building; emphasizing the landscape as an important component of being “green”; and developing a concept that is an integrated combination of building and site – and this was before LEED accreditation had become the rule rather than the exception it is today.

What this translated into was a strategy developed by the architects Artech Inc and the landscape architects SWA Group that minimized the physical volume of the architecture, maximized the availability of the ground plane for landscaping and created an in-built level of security into the project. This was achieved by separating the public spaces, which were placed in the ground-level podium and four levels of below-grade parking, from the tower’s private space. While the tower that rises 25 storeys above the atrium exhibits a language of architecture that is almost predictable, the treatment of the surrounding areas is what makes the project unique. The entire footprint of the podium is ‘green’ and the rooftop gardens slope from the second story down to street level, further giving way to the expansive city and river views. Not only does the green roof store storm water and then reuse it for irrigation, but along with the sloping nature of ground below, it allows for the landscape to appear as if it is flowing from the building itself and is as much a part of the site as the architecture, even though situated within a dense urban fabric.

At the rear of the site, the podium sits one story above street grade and provides a main vehicular entry into a recessed Atrium Court. Additionally, the tower presents a second vehicular drop-off area along the front building face. From this point, the podium garden slopes toward the boulevard and a fountain feature begins to step with the incline. Long, linear planting beds, lawn panels and granite walkways highlight the river vista. Halfway down the sloped garden, a light well opens to the sky and the granite walkways become pedestrian bridges across the well, providing views of the grove below. The linear gardens, pools and sleek waterfalls that make up the detailing of the scheme, are inspired by the building’s view of the Gee Long River.

Text Compilation: Amrita Ravimohan
Photographs: courtesy Tom Fox, SWA Group