Silver Urban Planning and Urban Design · 2026
Y15 Station Urban Design
by MRT Bureau Kaohsiung City Government
- A' Design Award 2026 Silver Winner in Urban Planning and Urban Design
- Awarded April 15, 2026
- CLIENT: Mass Rapid Transit Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 15,565
- Verification code 1E80B2F9F0 · Verify this award
About Y15 Station Urban Design
Y15 Station is a transit-oriented mixed-use development in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The project occupies about 1.1 hectares within a smart technology innovation park and provides roughly 170,430 square meters of floor space. Two towers of 45 and 32 stories hold office, commercial, and residential functions, with five basement levels for parking. High-performance curtain walls balance energy efficiency and daylight, while long-span floors allow flexible exhibition and work areas. Steel skybridges and multi-level circulation connect the site directly to the metro node.
The Y15 Station Urban Design by MRT Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government represents an exemplary vision of twenty-first century transit-oriented waterfront development, synthesizing transportation infrastructure with mixed-use urban fabric in a composition that speaks to contemporary aspirations for integrated, sustainable city-making. This meticulously conceived masterplan positions twin landmark towers as civic beacons, their sculpted profiles and golden-bronze materiality establishing a distinctive skyline identity while the curvilinear podium structures create a continuous public realm connecting rail transit to maritime activities. The design demonstrates sophisticated understanding of waterfront urbanism, situating cruise terminal facilities, recreational marina, and pedestrian promenades in careful choreography that maximizes public access to the water's edge while accommodating the technical requirements of multimodal transportation interchange. The chromatic strategy unifying the development through warm metallic tones suggests consideration of both diurnal lighting conditions and cultural associations with prosperity and welcome. The inclusion of the distinctive tapered structure at the western edge introduces sculptural variety while potentially housing civic or cultural programming that anchors the public domain. The architectural vocabulary balances contemporary formal experimentation with practical urban density, demonstrating how high-rise residential and commercial development can achieve iconic presence without sacrificing livability or pedestrian scale at ground level. The rendering captures the development at its most evocative moment, bathed in sunset light that transforms functional infrastructure into a vision of urban possibility. One might contemplate how such comprehensive urban visions negotiate between the singular architectural gesture and the collective fabric of the city, asking how landmark and neighborhood might coexist in productive dialogue.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The Kaohsiung Bay Area 2.0 Smart Technology Innovation Park spans approximately 43 hectares, advancing 5G AIoT development and positioning Kaohsiung as a globally competitive industrial hub. Within it, the Y15 Joint Development Project introduces AI, AR, Web 3.0, Iov, cloud computing, EVs, and digital health, integrating R and D, employment, and daily life. Direct Mrt connectivity transforms transit into industrial efficiency, linking Tod with Kaohsiung's smart technology strategy.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The Y15 Joint Development site spans about 1.1 hectares, with a 60 percent building coverage ratio and 630 percent floor area ratio, yielding roughly 170,430 m2 of total floor space. The development features two mixed-use towers, 45 and 32 stories, with five basement levels for parking, supporting office, commercial, and residential functions. Positioned within the Kaohsiung Bay Area Smart Technology Innovation Park and near the Port Cruise Terminal, Y15 serves as a landmark industrial node for future tech-sector growth.
- Tags
- Smart City, Asia New Bay Area 2.0, MRT Joint Development, Hon Hai, Urban Transformation, Kaohsiung
- Production Technology
- The project's architecture prioritizes durability and flexible use for a corporate headquarters. High-performance curtain walls balance energy efficiency with daylighting, while long-span floors maintain adaptable spaces for exhibitions and cross-departmental collaboration. Steel-structured skybridges and 3D circulation systems ensure precision, ease of maintenance, and pedestrian safety, creating a multi-level urban network connected to the MRT node.
- Design Challenge
- Located within the core of the Asia New Bay Area Smart Technology Innovation Park, Y15 must respond to the flexible office requirements and high security standards of a large corporate headquarters while integrating MRT co-development and skybridge systems. High-intensity commercial office volumes and industrial exhibition spaces require structural and mechanical configurations that allow for future upgrades as industries evolve. Balancing efficiency-driven industrial environments with urban public character remained a central challenge for the design team.
- Project Duration
- The project finished in Taiwan.
- Operation Flow
- The Y15 Joint Development Project exemplifies Kaohsiung’s use of Transit-Oriented Development (Tod) to drive urban transformation. By combining Mrt joint development with an industry-chain-oriented investment strategy, the project provides tech enterprises with physical space alongside integrated R and D, employment, and daily-life support. The Kaohsiung Bay Area has since attracted over 300 domestic and international companies, forming a comprehensive industrial ecosystem in cloud services, communications, system integration, and innovation.
- Research
- Kaohsiung was once built on the petrochemical and steel industries. With global supply chain shifts and rapid technological change, the city is transforming into a technology and headquarters hub. Since 2021, the Asia New Bay Area Smart Technology Innovation Park has promoted computing power, applications, and talent development, attracting semiconductor and future industries through investment and MRT-linked development.
- Inspiration
- Kaohsiung's growth relied on the petrochemical and steel industries. To drive transformation, Tsmc was introduced to northern Kaohsiung as a semiconductor R and D hub, while the southern Kaohsiung Bay Area 2.0 Smart Technology Innovation Park was developed. The Y15 Joint Development Project, led by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., from December 2025, will bring AI, AR, Web 3.0, IoV, cloud computing, EVs, and digital health, strengthening the Bay Area 2.0 industrial ecosystem.
- Image Credits
- Mass Rapid Transit Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government