Projects
- Taipei, Taiwan
- Completion: 2005
- Capacity: 15,000
The Taipei Arena forms the centrepiece of a multiple use sports complex which includes a natatorium, 20,000 seat athletics stadium and tennis centre.
The arena was the first major entertainment building to be built in Taipei in more than 20 years. It was designed primarily as a sports arena to accommodate basketball, ice hockey, table tennis tournaments, gymnastic events and exhibitions. As Taipei's premier large concert venue, acoustic design considerations received priority throughout the design process.
The arena also has an extensive Back-of-House, storage and loading bay to allow easy installation for large travelling shows, such as Disney on Ice or Cirque du Soleil which arrive with up to 40 containers of equipment.
Developing a critical mass around a sports arena is an essential ingredient of the 21st century sports facility to ensure the long term commercial viability of the building and its continued use on non match days. This was a chief concern of the Taipei City Government and the building has been designed to include a shopping arcade, food court and health club to ensure the facility is actively patronised even on non-even days.
Interestingly, during the design process, the City of Taipei decided that the lower basement of the arena would make an ideal location to store an emergency power supply. The basement now houses two large gas turbine power generators to be used for the surrounding district during emergencies.