A GREEN ENERGY MANIFESTO

Global operating architecture and urbanism practice, MVRDV's 'Sun Rock' project in Taiwan is a built manifesto for Taipower's carbon-free future a

- WINY MAAS,

Located at the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park near Taichung, Sun Rock is an operations facility containing offices, a maintenance workshop, storage spaces, and a public gallery for Taiwan's government-owned power company Taipower.

Anticipating Taiwan's planned transition to green energy, the features of the Sun Rock building, from its shape to its façade, are focused on generating solar energy as efficiently as possible. The building therefore acts as a definitive statement of intention, and a “manifesto in a building” to communicate Taipower's goals to the public.

The building's primary purpose is for the storage and maintenance of sustainable energy equipment. The site for Taipower's new facility receives a significant amount of solar exposure throughout the year, and so the rounded shape of Sun Rock is designed to maximise how much of that sunlight can be harnessed for energy. On the southern side, the building slopes gently downwards, creating a large surface area that directly faces the sun during the middle of the day. At the northern end, the domed shape maximises the area of the building exposed to the sun in the mornings and evenings.