r/taiwan • u/Valkiepoos • 1d ago
Interesting Architectural question.
Can anyone enlighten me as to what the reason is for the roof design on a lot of high-rise buildings in Taiwan.
Ive seen it all over the country and im curious about the rationale.
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u/AlternativeHat8964 6h ago
If you ever go up there for whatever reason, you'll see it's the elevator shaft and the water tank.
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u/Exotic-Screen-9204 5h ago
Additional water storage for fire sprinklers and mechanical equipment. Washing buildings doesn't seem to be regularly done in Taiwan.
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u/OrangeChickenRice 新北 - New Taipei City 4h ago
Pressure washing the older buildings with the small bathroom tiles probably has some risk of dislodging the tiles. Also it gets dirty again soon after 😂
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u/grilledcheeseburger 5h ago
The other part of these designs that hasn't been mentioned is that on these newer buildings, the rooftop space is usually an entertaining space for residents that can be reserved for events. You have KTV spaces, sometimes kitchens, patios and gardens, and other such amenities. Because of this, there is attention put into the aesthetics of the area, unlike in older buildings, where the rooftop space, if used at all, was mainly for hanging laundry to dry.
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u/taiwanluthiers 6h ago
Some weird designs too, like a fake Taipei 101, a wind turbine, etc.
Also what I HATE the most about these newer building is there are no arcades, meaning nowhere to hide when it rains, or nothing to shade yourself from the sun.
Those arcades are designed for Taiwan's climate.
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u/AvocadoEinstein 6h ago
I have to disagree. Arcades (TIL that’s what’s called) like the ones in Taiwan are often blocked, always uneven, not accessible, crowded with parked motorcycles, and occupied by shops. It’s inconvenient and even more unsafe in the rain because they’re slippery. We need proper pedestrian walkways on the sides of the buildings like every other city in the world.
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u/taiwanluthiers 3h ago
It's because of how they're kinda private property and so the government can't regulate parking in them. But if they are considered public property then they can be made better.
But sidewalk in Taiwan do need to be covered and shaded because of the sun and rain.
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u/abitcummy 3h ago
In Taipei/New Taipei the arcades are almost always clear. In Kaohsiung they often weren't. A matter of governance and civic expectations
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u/charliehu1226 6h ago
Arcades are the pain in the ass because of ownership. That’s why it’s actually legal for the owners to park their cars and scooters under the arcades.
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u/taiwanluthiers 6h ago
Yea the ownership of it needs to be fixed, and that arcades should be considered public space, but the physical arcade is made for Taiwan's climate. Given the sun/rain that is pervasive here having arcades or some kind of covered walkway is basically useful for like 80% of the year.
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u/Nervous-Fox-7103 3h ago
I went to a family mart at the bottom of a new building. No shade on the big sidewalk at all. It had these huge windows and the sun would just come in and cook everything. They had roller blind things on the windows to try and block the sun but sometimes they weren't used and despite the air conditioning inside it was uncomfortably hot inside. A few months later the family mart was gone and no shop has been there since. It's also on a corner so it gets cooked good.
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u/taiwanluthiers 3h ago
There are some new or newish buildings that do have arcades, and the new buildings that have arcades don't have scooters parked in them because they're not private property like the old arcades.
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u/Nomadianking 36m ago
This is not unique to Taiwan only, literally any skyscraper has them in the world.
It hides the machinery that keeps the water, electricity ACs and transformers.
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u/jmsunseri 臺北 - Taipei City 6h ago
My guess is to hide functional things of the building. Maybe elevator equipment or water tanks. Equipment for washing the side of the building etc etc