OMA’s taipei housing renewal lets residents shape an alternative to the standard tower

Tomas Kauer - News Writer and News Moderator

OMA’s taipei housing renewal lets residents shape an alternative to the standard tower

RESIDENTS COMMISSION OMA TO RETHINK URBAN RENEWAL IN TAIPEI

The residents of Taipei’s Songshan Yulin Yuan Community appoint OMA to redevelop their aging housing block, proposing an alternative to the standardized residential towers often produced through conventional, sales-led urban renewal. Set within a 1960s planned neighborhood in Taipei, the project asks whether increasing density can preserve some of the spatial habits, greenery, and sense of collective life that residents already value.

The commission arrives at a significant moment for Taipei’s housing stock. More than 70 percent of the city’s housing is now over 30 years old, while many buildings constructed before 1974 do not meet contemporary seismic standards. Taiwan’s Disaster-Prevention Urban Renewal policy, introduced in 2024, offers floor-area-ratio bonuses to encourage the reconstruction of vulnerable structures. The Songshan project responds to these conditions by placing residents themselves at the center of the renewal process. OMA says its proposal grows out of conversations with the existing community. The main challenge of the project is to determine which qualities of the neighborhood should survive the transition.

‘Rather than being commissioned by a developer, we were appointed directly by residents to redevelop their 1960s housing. The neighborhood is characterized by relatively low density, interconnected buildings, and abundant greenery. Through extensive conversations with residents, we learned that these qualities are precisely what they value and want to preserve. Our proposal therefore reinterprets the spatial and social qualities of the existing neighborhood to create a contemporary model of collective living. The aim is to retain a sense of community while accommodating future needs. I believe successful urban transformations grow out of the existing context and aspirations of the community.’ David Gianotten, OMA Managing Partner, tells designboom.

renderings by Stefania Trozzi, Diego Iacono, Nevena Ivanovic, courtesy of OMA

FOUR INTERLOCKING SLABS REPLACE THE AGING WALK-UPS

The architects at OMA transform the existing block into two 24-story residential towers composed of four interlocking vertical slabs. The massing steps and shifts across the site, breaking down the scale of the new development while creating openings between its different volumes. The configuration maximizes north-south facades and introduces vertical openings intended to bring daylight and natural ventilation deeper into the apartments. It also responds to a residential typology found in the original neighborhood, which OMA describes as a ‘front and rear balcony’ arrangement.

Living rooms and balconies face outward, while a central living zone connects to a rear service layer containing kitchens, bathrooms, and utilities. In this way, the project translates an existing domestic pattern into a larger and denser residential structure rather than abandoning it entirely. ‘Songshan Yulin Yuan is part of a 1960s planned neighborhood defined by low density, interconnected building types, and abundant greenery,’ says David Gianotten. ‘Through close engagement with residents, we understood that these are qualities that the community wish to retain in the renewed housing.’

the two towers are composed as distinct volumes with stepped and shifted massing

PUBLIC PLATFORMS EXTEND DAILY LIFE INTO THE TOWERS

The spaces between and around the residential slabs become an important part of OMA’s strategy. A network of shared amenities extends through the project at different levels, creating connections between the towers and the surrounding neighborhood. On the second floor, a semi-open platform sits within the surrounding tree canopy and connects with nearby community parks. The space accommodates sports and leisure activities, while the ground floor opens toward nearby schools and the walking track of the park. Here, a receding facade frames the lobby and retail spaces to strengthen the relationship between the new development and its immediate surroundings.

Below ground, a community living room provides quieter leisure spaces. An atrium brings daylight into this lower level while maintaining visual connections between different parts of the building. Rooftop sky gardens occupy the tops of the lower slabs, offering views across Taipei. Together, these shared spaces are intended to form a continuous network for everyday life, extending beyond the individual apartment and into the wider neighborhood.

the proposed towers stand within Taipei’s dense residential landscape

CAN DENSITY PRESERVE A SENSE OF NEIGHBORHOOD?

The Songshan Urban Renewal Residence proposes a different way of thinking about the relationship between density and residential quality. Its architectural argument lies less in rejecting tall buildings altogether than in questioning whether renewal must inevitably produce isolated, repetitive towers. ‘Our aim is to increase density while preserving residential quality through the reorganization of massing, openings, and public spaces, fostering a sense of neighborhood character and domesticity rarely seen in recent renewal projects,’ explains Chiaju Lin, OMA Project Director in Taiwan.

The project remains at the schematic design stage, but its commission reflects the active role residents have taken in the redevelopment of their community. The Songshan Yulin Yuan Community selected OMA to rethink their existing housing, drawing attention to the qualities residents hope to retain, including greenery, connected buildings, and familiar patterns of daily life. OMA responds through stepped slabs, balconies, shared platforms, gardens, and communal spaces. While the project is still in its early stages, it presents an approach to urban renewal in which residents take part in shaping the housing that will replace their existing homes.

the redevelopment introduces new housing into Taipei’s existing urban fabric