Urban Planning Museum Design Competition

The Planning Bureau intends to build 7 municipal civic projects including a library, scientific center, urban planning exhibition museum, teenage activity center, etc. The urban planning exhibition museum is the first project to start and aimed to be landmark architecture in the city as a modern, first-class, functional venue for office and exhibition.

"The new planning museum is envisioned to be a new civic sculpture floating above the central governmental park", says Ted Givens, Design Partner of IO. The sculptural nature of the building ties to the existing network of sculptural elements throughout the city.

The building becomes a technological bloom as the massing opens towards the main parks to the west. The form of the building takes inspiration from the nautical influences and seeks to become a symbol of technological progress and green evolution.

The building uses a photocatalytic nano-coating of Titanium Dioxide on the outer zinc rain screen to neutralize air pollution and remove dirt.

The cleansing reaction is maintained 24 hours a day by using UV lights on the façade at night which are powered by PV cells.

The lighting scheme will be symbolic of a blooming flower- the main golden glow facing west towards the government buildings and the CBD.

The inner aluminum façade layer uses a polymer coating that increases insulation values by 10-20 percent, and provides marine and fungal resistance. These nano-coatings are really nothing more than simple paints and will provide dramatic performance with minimal cost.
The use of the self-cleaning nano-coating on the façade will keep the skin clean of all dirt and organic stains for years without any maintenance.

The building also minimizes east west facades and pulls all entries away from the northern winds to maximize passive solar ideas. The government hopes the project will inspire green ideas and further sustainable design in the city.