Taipei Nanshan Plaza

YKK AP develops an environmentally friendly facade
that withstands ultra-high wind pressures
High quality and short delivery times are achieved through our product appeal, manufacturing
capability,and installation techniques

Location: Taipei City

Completion: October 2017

Use: Office and commercial facilities

Floors: 5 below ground, 48 above ground, 2 tower floors

Taipei Nanshan Plaza, which stands 272 meters tall in the center of Taipei City, is an office building with a distinctive tapered shape, evoking mountains or hands closed in prayer. The building, which is designed for office comfort and environmental friendliness, has been awarded the highest "Diamond" rating for green architecture, an indicator of environmentally friendly construction in Taiwan.

YKK AP worked on the entirety of the office building, which features 66,606m2 of curtain wall area. We developed a curtain wall with 500mm sun-shielding fins to withstand ultra-high wind pressure, providing an environmentally friendly facade.

In addition to the slim and compact design and environmental friendliness of the sun-shielding fins, it was also necessary to meet the design requirements for strength. At this site, which is subject to frequent typhoons, this means resistance to extremely strong wind pressures of 11500Pa (137 m/s windspeed).

YKK AP devised a structure in which the glass is installed at the rear, exposing the exterior of the vertical frame of the curtain wall and making it part of the sun-shielding fins. In addition to ensuring the strength of the fasteners (joint metal fittings) and main components through FEM (Finite Element Method) analysis and verification tests using actual products, design requirements were met, and weight reduction was also achieved.

The Suzhou Factory, with its extensive deployment capacity, and the Namerikawa Plant, with its high processing capacity, collaborated to manufacture and supply high-precision corner parts, which require complex 3D processing as well as different dimensions for each unit. An integrated deadline-focused production line dedicated to Taipei Nanshan Plaza was also built to maximize processing speed. At the construction site, we achieved quick turnaround time by planning and executing an efficient installation plan, including the use of our own elevator to enable scheduled deliveries.

The building uses "unitized curtain walls," in which every section of the exterior curtain walls is a factory completed product with glass and components pre-fitted. This ensures both high quality and easy installation.