The Taipei Public Library's Beitou Branch is one of the most admired pieces of contemporary architecture in the city — a timber-framed, ecologically designed library set among the trees of Beitou Park, beside the hot-spring valley. Opened in 2006, it was Taiwan's first green building of its kind, and its airy wooden form, deep balconies, solar panels, and rainwater-harvesting roof have made it a destination as much as a place to read.
The building is deliberately light on the land, raised among the park's mature trees so that it seems to sit within the canopy. Floor-to-ceiling windows fill the reading rooms with filtered green light, and the balconies look out over the park and the stream. It sits a short walk from the Beitou Hot Spring Museum and the open-air thermal baths, and together they make the centrepiece of a relaxed afternoon in the hot-spring district.