Performance Hall at the Taipei Music Center opens in the Nangang District

The 756,000-sf Performance Hall at the Taipei Music Center (TMC) has recently opened on Sept. 5. The project is the centerpiece of RUR Architecture’s competition winning design for a nine-hectare site in Taipei dedicated to the performance, production, and celebration of pop music in Asia.

The structure is designed for both indoor and outdoor performances by seating 6,000 people inside while also accommodating several hundred people outside in the public plaza. The building’s expansive geometric volumes are meant to mirror the terrain of the nearby mountains, tying the building to its environment. 

A faceted double skin wraps around and encloses the auditorium, made of an anodized aluminum cladding outer layer and a gypsum wall inner layer. The project also includes state-of-the-art technology that includes acoustics, lighting, and eco-friendly heating and cooling systems.

Photograph courtesy RUR Architecture & Fei and Cheng Associates.

The Performance Hall is one of three major building’s in RUR’s master plan, along with the Exhibition Hall (The Cube) and the Creative Area Building (the Music Industry Shell). The Exhibition Hall contains multiple exhibition spaces, collection storage, research facilities, lecture facilities, and archives. The Creative Area Building houses production facilities. A new elevated public ground bridges the north and south sites, bringing together all three buildings in a coherent design. The project also includes three live-houses, which will allow for simultaneous performances and also support new talent with intimate concerts.

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The TMC project was conceived as a “City of Pop Music” and is a key part of cultural urbanism in the post-industrial revival of Taipei. It brings the pop music community together in one hybrid multipurpose complex. It will act as a new urban arts precinct for Taipei, weaving the buildings into the natural surroundings and further into the fabric of the city. Fully landscaped grounds and the inclusion of mixed-use spaces, such as stores, markets, and cafes, position the TMC as a destination for both residents and visitors to Taipei, independent of the performance schedule.

Photograph courtesy RUR Architecture & Fei and Cheng Associates.

The south side of the complex is scheduled to open in mid-2021, marking the completion of the project that spent over a decade in planning and a decade in design and construction.

The project team includes:

RUR have collaborated on the TMC with an expansive team, including:

Architect of Record: Fei and Cheng Associates, Taipei

Structural Engineer (Schematic Design): ARUP, Hong Kong

Structural Engineer (Detailed Design): Supertek, Taiwan 

Facade Consultant: Meinhardt Façade Technology, Shanghai

Theater, Acoustics Consultants: ARUP,  Hong Kong

Landscape architect: The Environmental Arts Design Company, Taiwan

Lighting Consultant: RDG, Taiwan