The Big Roof Quartel de Bombeiros by Chuan-Chih Chang, Joe Lin and Yeling Chen

The Big Roof Quartel de Bombeiros by Chuan-Chih Chang, Joe Lin and Yeling Chen is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award de Ferro in Design de Arquitetura, Edifícios e Estruturas Competition Category.

FerroArquitetura· 2023

The Big Roof Quartel de Bombeiros

by Chuan-Chih Chang, Joe Lin and Yeling Chen

Client: KeeLung City Govenrment

A' Design Award de Ferro Winner in Arquitetura Category

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Verified Award Winner

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The Design

About The Big Roof Quartel de Bombeiros

O Grande Telhado é um quartel de bombeiros em Keelung, Taiwan, uma cidade montanhosa e chuvosa. O projeto adapta o estilo local das casas de montanha, de modo que o edifício se destaca como um marco e, ainda assim, integra-se ao terreno. Uma ampla cobertura inclinada forma uma nova camada sobre a superfície da montanha. Varandas e aberturas criam espaços abrigados entre a paisagem e a edificação. Esses espaços acrescentam profundidade, reduzem a incidência direta do sol no verão e permitem a ventilação natural. Um percurso paisagístico ao lado do quartel conduz ao parque e à paisagem circundante.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award de Ferro

The Big Roof Quartel de Bombeiros conquistou o A' Design Award de Ferro, um reconhecimento prestigiado atribuído a bons designs que cumprem os requisitos profissionais e industriais esperados de criações bem concebidas. Os vencedores do Ferro demonstram grande habilidade, elevada especialização, compreensão especializada e capacidade criativa dos seus criadores. Espera-se que The Big Roof Quartel de Bombeiros seja uma criação muito considerada, admirada e estimada, prática e inovadora. Este design vencedor do A' Design Award de Ferro integra as melhores práticas do setor e tem características técnicas competentes associadas a conhecimento especializado e talento. Pela sua minúcia, The Big Roof Quartel de Bombeiros merece respeito e destina-se a proporcionar melhorias na qualidade de vida que ajudam a tornar o mundo num lugar melhor.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Fire station is a landmark and yet still blending into the environment. The project is located at Keelung, Taiwan, a mountainous and rainy city. It is crucial to design the interface of the urban context and the building which connects visual guidance and natural shades for rain or sun. People can take the scenic path right by the fire station to access the park, the east bridge, the natural landscape. It is a statement of the fire station being part of local residents' lives.
Dimensions & Packaging: Floors: 4F / Site Area: 1780 m2 / Floor Print Area: 780 m2 / Total Floor Area: 2045 m2 / Height: 14.45 m / Construction Fee: 3,000,000 euro
Tags: big roof, fire station, architecture, taiwan
Production Technology: Because of the local humid weather and limited budget, the fire station itself is expected to be easy to construct and maintain. The excavation strategy for mountain soil is very economy efficient, and use raw concrete formboard and self-compacting concrete for main structure and exterior walls. Earthquakes occur frequently in Taiwan, so we avoid to use stone panel or tiles, to prevent its damaging caused by earthquakes. Mineral painting on the big slope roof top also helps as the waterproofed layer.
Design Challenge: The most difficult challenge of this project is the local mountain terrain and the project is located on a 45degree slope terrain. We need to think about how to construct at a steep terrain and also how to pour concrete when the local weather is often humid all year long. Therefore, during the design process, architects highly participate at the pre-construction meetings and also discuss with contractors about construction methods that helps to complete the project under limited budget.
Research: For architectures like police and fire stations, are usually designed as a majestic building in image or form wise in Asian societies. Taiwan government also tries to re-connect people and public institutions to improve public services. So during design process, architects try to design these public institutions based on regionalism and avoid the majestic image. So the design concept is to adapt “mountain house” style at this area and into our main building elements to the landscape and climate.
Inspiration: The concept is to adapt an indigenous building style “mountain house” in Taiwan, which have taken into the main building elements to the landscape and climate. The big sloping roof is a new layer of the mountain skin. The balconies and openings form unique space in-between the landscape and building and also create additional depth in in the summer to avoid sunlight but still allows natural ventilation, it also allow people doing multiple activities doing in and out the new mountain skin.
Project Duration: The project started in March 2017, and finished in March, 2021, located in Keelung city, Taiwan.
Operation Flow: At Asia cities that are similar to Taiwan’s, firefighters usually need to cover double amount of citizen’s safety than western countries. So when designing a fire station, architects not only need to design an efficient office, but also a good living residence. Because we believe with good living spaces, it can benefit both life and work quality. For this project, various balconies and openings allow great views from indoor to outdoor which offer great work and live spaces for firefighters.
Patents: For copyrights: Yen Partnership Architects + BBC Architects
Team Members: Yen Partnership Architects: Joe Lin, Yenling Chen
BBC Architects: ChuanChih Chang
Image Credits: photo: OS Studio