The Agora Tower was designed by Vincent Callebaut Architectures. Credit: Vincent Callebaut Architectures.
The DNA double helix-shaped tower was built in 2017. Credit: Vincent Callebaut Architectures.
The 20-storey tower is twisted by 90° in total from the base to the tip. Credit: Vincent Callebaut Architectures.
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The rooftop clubhouses have a photovoltaic roof, which produces solar electricity for the building. Credit: Vincent Callebaut Architectures.
The car park, swimming pool and fitness centre in the basement are naturally ventilated and sunlit. Credit: Vincent Callebaut Architectures.

Agora Tower is a high-rise luxury residential building in the Xinyi District of Taipei, Taiwan.

Also known as Tao Zhu Yin Yuan, the eco-friendly residential tower was developed by BES Engineering Corporation on one of the largest designated residential sites in Taipei that once housed the five-star Agora Garden hotel. BES Engineering Corporation signed a joint venture contract with the hotel’s owner, Agora Garden Corporation, in March 2010 to build the residential tower. Both the hotel and BES Engineering are owned by Core Pacific Group.

The green and twisting tower was designed by Paris-based Vincent Callebaut Architecture, which won the design competition for the project in November 2010. The building broke ground for construction in March 2013 and was completed in September 2017.

Designed with the aim of achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification, the 42,335m² building accommodates rooftop clubhouses, a swimming pool, gym facilities, car parking floors and 42 luxury apartments.

Design features of the double helix building

The 20-storey Agora Tower was designed to resemble the double helix structure of DNA, with two helicoidal towers twisting around a fixed central core. The building contains two or four apartments on each floor.

Each 540m² apartment is completely free of columns, providing spatial flexibility in terms of interior layout and partitioning inside.

The residential tower is surrounded by a mineral moat to protect the privacy of the residents. The ground floor consists of a double-height lobby covered in transparent facades.

The central core of the building accommodates two staircases, four high-speed elevators, one car elevator and two glazed sky garages at the entrance of each apartment. It also holds the vertical shafts for the main flows, which are covered by a huge bearing exoskeleton in reinforced steel.

The landscaped basement car park was built on the car park of the pre-existing Agora Garden hotel to minimise excavation and foundation costs. A circular light well will allow sunlight and fresh air to reach all the four basement levels, as well as naturally ventilate the connected swimming pools and fitness facilities.

Identical linear crystalline façades cover all levels of the tower. These multilayer glasses or double-layer façades are integrated with blinds to protect the apartments from solar radiation in summer and reduce thermal loss during winters.

The successive floors are twisted by 4.5° clockwise and are connected at both ends by two spiralling mega-columns coated in green walls. The double helix tower twists 90° in total from base to tip, rendering it a moving geometry that morphs its shape depending on which direction it is being viewed from. Its north-south elevation gives it a reverse pyramid shape, while its east-west elevation is shaped like a rhomboidal pyramid.

The levels are structurally supported by the Vierendeel truss system behind the glass facades, which consist of a set of beams for every two floors. Along with a suspended structural system, this transfers all the weight through the beams to the central core and down to the foundation.

The uniquely shaped building provides an exceptional 270° view of the Taipei skyline in three directions from every apartment, as well as panoramic views of the Taipei 101 tower and the Taipei Central Business District.

Green features of the building

The exterior of the building features a cascading layer of greenery with balconies on the periphery of each apartment, containing fruit trees, organic vegetable gardens, as well as aromatic and medicinal plants, which will enable the residents to grow their own produce.

The suspended open-air gardens integrate a compost system to generate organic fertilisers, a rainwater capture system to irrigate the plants, and nests for birds. The planting beds are covered by a layer of Bethel white granite on a honeycomb to protect the plants from excess heat.

The building also features a photovoltaic roof located 100m above ground. With a surface area of 1,000m², the photovoltaic pergola will integrate electricity produced from solar rays into the electric network of the building.

Two huge rooftop clubhouses under the pergola are surrounded by sky gardens that will naturally filter and purify rainwater with the action of the plants. The purified rainwater is injected into the building’s water distribution system by gravity.

Key players involved with the residential project

Taiwan Kumagai is the construction contractor for the building. LKP Design is the local architect for the project, while Taipei-based Enertek provided green building consulting services.

Another Taipei-based company, King Le Chang & Associates is responsible for the structural engineering works, while Sine & Associates is undertaking the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) engineering. Los Angeles-based Wilson & Associates is the architect for the interiors.

SWA and Horizon & Atmosphere are the international and local landscape architects, while New L’Observatoire International and Unolai Design are the international and local lighting designers respectively.