Architecture studio MVRDV has released visuals of Sun Rock, a self-sufficient office and operations facility it has designed in Taiwan for the government-owned power company Taipower.
Located at the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park near Taichung, the building will be covered in angled photovoltaics and used to store and maintain sustainable energy equipment.
MVRDV has designed a solar panel-covered operations facility for Taipower
Sun Rock will be distinguished by its rounded form, which MVRDV has developed to maximise the amount of sunlight its photovoltaic-covered facade can harness to create energy.
The southern side of the building, which faces the sun during the middle of the day, will have a large surface area that slopes gently downwards. Meanwhile, the northern edge of the building will be domed to maximise its exposure to the sun in the mornings and evenings. MVRDV and Taipower's goal is for the building to generate enough electricity for it to be self-sustaining. Any excess that it generates will be sent to the energy grid.
The operations facility will be covered in solar panels
"We cladded the entire facade with photovoltaics, maximising the energy gains to make it not only self-sustainable, for its own usage, but also allowing the building to become a tool of energy production, exporting electricity to the rest of the grid," explained MVRDV's co-founder Winy Maas.
"This is achieved through a maximally efficient positioning of the panels," he ...