Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), located at Central Taiwan Innovation and Research Park in Nantou, Taiwan, is a public research institute promoting industrial innovations in Taiwan, and it is expected to be a central facility for Science Park that is expected to be built in this region.
Title: Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI)
Location: Nantou, Taiwan
Program: Research Institute
Completion: December 2014
Floor area: N/A
Project team: Keisuke Toyoda, Jia-Shuan Tsai, Yusuke Oono (project manager), Chun-Wei Lee, Hui-Hsuan Chen, Chin-yu Tsai, Alex Knezo, Junichiro Horikawa
Collaborator: AoR, Interior:Bio-Architecture Formosana
Photographer: Daici Ano
noiz collaborated with Bio Architecture Formosana to enter the design competition for the facility (in April 2010) and won the first prize. During the development phase, the project site had to be relocated once during the design development phase, and the construction finally completed in September 2014.
noiz was in charge of the façade design, while Bio Architecture Formosana was responsible for the architectural design. ITRI program included various research laboratories, library, exhibition area of the latest technologies, greenhouse for research, café and so on. The facility is expected to be approved as Diamond class certified building, which is the highest level of the architectural environment classification, and therefore latest technologies were actively incorporated to create environmentally effective architecture serving as the symbol of Science Park, as well as representing advanced technologies of Taiwan.
Different degrees of lightness were required according to the nature of research at each laboratory in this research complex. It was not possible to adjust lightness by changing shape or size of each opening and such solution would also result in a disorganized exterior appearance. In addition, due to heavy-duty building service requirements to fulfill functions of the research facility, numerous ducts and pipes, which numbers and locations will increase in the future, would be exposed on the façades.
Our design solution was to provide soft veil-like facade layers composed of 4000 louvers, which are offset from curtain walls of the building. The interior light environment is controlled by adjusting densities and angles of the louvers, while the louver system gives the integrated appearance to the facility. The louvers resemble a school of fish- the louvers is positioned at various angles, while as a whole creating a large flow and giving a dynamic impression to the building. The louvers are made of perforated aluminum sheet, creating light-weight impression of the façade while allowing exterior views from the interior to some extent.
Noiz, inc.
Noiz was founded by Jia-Shuan Tsai and Keisuke Toyoda in 2007, based in both Tokyo and Taipei. Kosuke Sakai has joined as a partner in 2016. Warsaw office has opened in 2020.
Noiz is a multi-disciplinary architecture design firm which is known as a front-runner in computational methods both in design and fabrication. Their work covers a wide range from architecture to media art installation, product design to smart city consultation.
