The Kaohsiung Main Public Library is the world’s first column-suspended “green” building, library director Pan Cheng-yi (潘政儀) said on Saturday.
The library, which opened in Kaohsiung’s Cianjhen District (前鎮) three years ago, has become a landmark of the city with its innovative energy-saving features, Pan said.
The balconies from the third to eighth floors on the building’s west and south sides have 5m-wide lawns, while an atrium on the sixth floor features a garden with several fully grown trees.
Photo: CNA
The plants help cool the building and reduce the use of air-conditioners, given the city’s high summer temperatures, Pan said, adding that the green surroundings also help visitors refresh themselves.
“The library is a ‘green’ building that can breathe,” Pan said. “There is a garden on its roof, where visitors can view the lovely Port of Kaohsiung.”
There are more than 5,000 air vents on the library’s floors that blow cool air from the bottom up and decrease energy consumption by about 30 percent, he said, adding that the indoor plants can also lower the temperature by 2°C.
Readers, books and the environment are integrated at the library, which is not a rigid structure, but an ecological space in harmony with its surroundings, he said.
The library has set six records, including the world’s first column-suspended building and most transparent library, as well as the world’s largest suspended atrium and the first 7.5m-high square without columns, Pan said.
It is also the nation’s most systematized structure with the most flexible functions, he said.
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