The design team drew inspiration from the site's historical significance, once home to a bustling paper manufacturing company. The warehouses, originally designed for metal and woodwork, boasted distinctive features that the architects aimed to preserve and highlight. The project's unique properties lie in its respectful approach to the historical structure, not merely preserving it but turning it into an exhibition of industrial architecture itself.
The design's realization involved the use of industrial materials such as steel frames, glass bricks, and translucent polycarbonate. The new steel frames outline the space, protecting the original structure and, with the help of strategic lighting design, spotlighting its historical elements. This approach creates an overlapping relationship between the modern and industrial, bringing a contemporary feel to the space.
The project's technical specifications reveal a total area of 801 square meters. The design team, including Tsung Wei, Yang Tzu Hsiang, Lin Janmichael Antoni, and Zi Ling, Wei, worked for five months on this project. The balance of industrial imagery was achieved through the use of lightweight and simple materials, such as steel bars and polycarbonate panels, to bring softer elements into the historical space.
One of the challenges faced by the team was introducing new design elements into a historical space without diminishing its historical value. The solution was a revealing lighting design that emphasized the beauty of the industrial-era architecture and defined the spatial characteristics of the design. The lighting design focused on three areas: the upper steel structures, the hollow steel columns, and display boxes surrounding the columns.
In conclusion, the Warehouse 20 21 22 23 project by Willy Yang Architects and Planners is a remarkable example of how design can honor the past while embracing the future. By preserving and highlighting the historical structure, the project becomes an exhibition of industrial architecture, a testament to the enduring value of cultural heritage.
Project Designers: Tsung Wei Yang
Image Credits: Image #1 : Photographer / Tsung Wei Yang, Janmichael Antoni
Image #2 : Photographer / Tsung Wei Yang, Janmichael Antoni
Image #3 : Photographer / Tsung Wei Yang, Janmichael Antoni
Image #4 : Photographer / Tsung Wei Yang, Janmichael Antoni
Image #5 : Photographer / Tsung Wei Yang, Janmichael Antoni
Project Team Members: Tsung Wei, Yang
Tzu Hsiang, Lin
Janmichael Antoni
Zi Ling, Wei
Project Name: Warehouse 20 21 22 23
Project Client: Tsung Wei Yang