Between mountains and seas
Comparing to other cities in Taiwan, Taitung has a very close relationship with nature. Aerial view shows a white town surrounded by green fields and blue coast. Here, the blue sky and sunshine, mountains and sea scenery are within reach. The site is located in the heart of downtown area, facing Central Market to its east and the Zhengqi Road on the north side as a lively tourist night market, which is an important service base for daily life.
Life Service Hub
The owner is a leading supermarket retailer in Taiwan, focusing on the brand image and planning the business model with the slogan "aesthetics of economic life". In this project, they will strengthen their service functions in conjunction with MUJI and to stimulate the development of surrounding area. The design is conceived with the concept of “Taitung Life Service Hub” and developed its spatial concept from the prototype of aboriginal Beinan Youth Club. On the one hand, such typology reflects the physical environment characteristics of the region. On the other hand, it refers to the spatial pattern with similar function.
Corner landmark
Although building program is basically packed with commercial space, the building massing still attempts to reflect the diverse conditions of its surrounding. First of all, the mass is elevated to give an open view with better visual interaction with urban life on lower level. The supermarket is then placed on the ground floor, opening only towards Zhongshan Road to shield the impact from noisy night market’s activities. Meanwhile, the terrace on the second floor is set at the street corner to make upper part of building a better connection with street life. The exterior wall used washed pebble which is commonly found in Taitung as main façade expression. The use of sunshade panel and perforated aluminum sheet not only sculpt the building forms, but also respond to the sunlight and shading issue. With the rhythm of light and shading effect, the building creates a corner landmark for the memory of daily life in Taitung.
This project, proposed as “Lifestyle Architecture”, is PXmart’s first complex store building in Taitung. Together with Central Market, Showtimes Cinemas, Taitung Tourist Night Market, will form the liveliest commercial district in Taitung and become part of the life memory of Taitung people.