Taipei Library, Beitou Branch

Hellow, everyone, welcome to Beitou Branch. This is the top 25 most beautiful public library in the world. You know this is also the first green building in Taiwan. The construction was finished in 2006. It was mainly built of wood, steel and reinforced concrete. These sustainable and recyclable materials produce the least carbon dioxide. Thus minimizing negative impact on the environment. We will have video about 20 minutes first. The videos are in English, in Mandarin, and for children named “Follow me”.

After the video watching, we will introduce the floor on the basement which looks like plastic carpet, but it’s not. It is made from linseed oil mixing with wood powder, lime, gum, and nature mineral substance. It’s harmless to the environment and fireproofing.

Then we’ll go out of the audio-visual room. The first stop is just in front of the

 audio-visual room. We can see three stainless posts which are used to support the high ceiling and help from the sloping roof. The high ceiling helps to get more nature and better indoor ventilation. In addition, the sloping roof makes rainwater collection easier and more effectively. If you sit here, you can see beautiful scenery outside. It looks like you are sitting under a tall tree. This is the image that architects want to create. You can also feel the most relaxed here in the library.

     When we go through the children’s library, we get to one interesting restroom. In this restroom, the automatic sensor tap and the sink are shaped like a writing brush and an ink stone which are used in Chinese calligraphy. They are designed so to be children-friendly. At the same time, we can see the children’s library. The sofa around the column helps to make children more relaxed while they are reading.

     Across the children’s library, we go out of the door to the basement balcony. The extended balcony is one of the special designs of the building. The purpose of this design is with two reasons. One is to help to avoid direct sunlight or rainwater reaching the doors and windows. The other is to match the design of corridors at the Beitou Hot Spring Museum. At the same time, we look at the Beitou Stream running along the library. The stream flows down from a hot spring valley uphill about 20 minutes away on foot. The air in this area is full of sulfur that comes from hot spring. It is one of the reasons why the architects chose the corrosion resistant material, Douglas fir for doors and windows’ frames.

     Around the building, there are many green termite control boxes we can see here. In each of boxes, there are two pieces of wood used as baits to detect termites. With the system, we can prevent termites invasion and ensure the structure safety of the building. We can also see a brown rainwater collection tank in the western side.

     After the balcony guide, we walk outdoor upstairs in the east. On the first floor outside in the east, there are heat exchangers installed at the top of the windows. Heat exchangers are installed in green building often. For this building, heat exchangers are installed here in the east because these trees are tall enough to shade these machines. They can pull dirty air out and allow fresh air in. In the meantime, they can make indoor temperature drop 4 degrees Celsius so that the air conditioners do not have to work so hard. Thus the library is able to lower energy consumption, saving electricity and money.

      Then let’s go into the library again, and go along the stairs to the 2^nd floor. We’ll stand the opposite near another stairs. In the library, we can see the book shelves are set at different height from those in other libraries. The shelves are only 110cm. tall. If the shelves are as tall as those in other libraries, we could not see the outdoor scenery and there would be less nature light and worse ventilation.

       Reading areas are set the north side because natural light from this direction has the least glare and reflection. There are a lot of lamps on the book shelves. Turn on or turn off as readers want.

        We can see 9 big beautiful decorated columns on the floor. They are air conditioning system outlets. It’s smart, isn’t it?

         Let’s look up at the ceiling. The columns are not used a trunk of Douglas fir, but used a piece by a piece. The architects considered the safety and saving the wood use. The metal used to connect beams and columns are plated with zinc to prevent the corrosion from sulfur gas.

         The ceiling of the stairs here, the design is interesting, too. In the evening, you can see stars from here. In the daytime, it gets more nature light.

         Then let’s go down to the 1^st floor. We know wireless internet access is available in the library. Near the counter, we can see a medal of EEWH which is the green building certificate as diamond label awarded by the Ministry of Interior. EEWH stands for ecology, energy saving, waste reduction and health.  

          There is another solar power real time monitoring system on the wall. The system tells us how much power the solar system is generating and how much the library is using.

           In 2010, a self-check was installed as experiment to try to make readers’ borrowing library materials more convenient and faster. Thus the librarians would not to work under so much pressure on the counter.

           We will go out of the library and see the eco-roof. The roof is equipped with rainwater collection system to capture rainwater. Through the pipes and gutters, the water is channeled to the filter tank and then to the small reservoir beneath the building. The system can collect and store up to 340 tons of water. In this way, the library can save 40% of water use. The recycled rainwater is primarily used to water plants and flush toilets, not for drinking or washing hands.

      We can also see the solar energy system on the roof. With the system, the library can save 1,300USD every year. These solar panels can also provide part of heat insulation.

      On another side of the roof, the roof garden provides heat insulation, too. It can reduce heat absorption and energy consumption of the library. On the top, there is a layer of soil about 10cm thick. Beneath it is a layer of light pebbles for drainage about 5cm and a layer of waterproofing system about 5cm. It also provides an access for wild plants, animals, and insects to form an ecosystem on the roof.

      When we go down the roof, we can see a lot of vines to provide part of heat insulation. When we stand in front of the building, the guide wants to introduce outward appearance of the building. There are a lot of big windows and doors in the east, north, and south, but no in the west. For the subtropical structures, in the west, sunlight is always boiling hot in summer.

      The floor outside, the architects used the water permeable pavement which allows rainwater to soak into the ground. It helps reduce the urban heat island effect.  The exterior walls are carbonized wooden plates and granite.

      It is said:” The building is just like a big tree house.” What do you think?