156 nan hua pathway

nan hua pathway

location : hsinchu , taiwan
client : hsinchu city government
year : 2024-2026
program :education
budget : 1,460,000 usd
design : office aaa
project manager : yi-en tsai, mao sen weng
construction supervision : mao sen weng
photographer: yu-cheng chao

The project is located around the campus of Nanhua Junior High School in Hsinchu City. The project includes the improvement of 554 meters of pedestrian routes, a new security office, and new parking shelters for cars and motorcycles. The main purpose of the project is to improve the safety of the school entrance and pedestrian routes, reorganize the circulation of vehicles and pedestrians, and respond to the future development of the campus.

The new security office is located next to Shangbin Road, between the teaching buildings and the athletic field. It is a one-story reinforced concrete building with a floor area of approximately 25 square meters. The plan is composed of two 3.6-by-3.6-meter square units, and the roof is supported by four columns. To provide a wider view of the school entrance and surrounding traffic, the exterior walls extend outward to form a 90-degree corner. This arrangement allows the security office to have a 270-degree field of view. One of the columns extends beyond the building and separates the entrance and exit. It also supports the two-way cantilevered roof slab and becomes a recognizable element of the new school entrance.

As the school is located near the coast, structural durability was an important consideration in the design of the parking shelters. Instead of using conventional lightweight metal roofing, the shelters are constructed with square steel columns, steel beams, projecting brackets, and reinforced concrete roof slabs. The roof uses an upstand-beam system, creating a continuous wave-shaped surface on the underside of the concrete slab. Each structural bay contains four curved waves corresponding to the parking spaces below. The heavy concrete roof appears to be suspended like a piece of fabric. The contrast between the large cantilever and the soft curved surface creates a building form that is both solid and light.