Lobsang Library Plans Three Reading Floors Beside Taichung’s Fengle Park
Targeted for end-2026 completion, the public library remains under construction, with approximately2,147 square metres, age-specific areas and planted terraces shown in renderings.
Lobsang Library in Taichung’s Nantun District, designed by the 半畝塘 team, is targeted for completion by the end of2026. On the former Wenxin vehicle impound site beside Fengle Sculpture Park, the planned three-storey public library covers approximately2,147 square metres, with spaces for children, older readers and teenagers. It remains under construction. Published interior and exterior images are design renderings, rather than an already-open forest reading destination.
From impound lot to library, rethink the park connection
The site was originally reserved for a school and later used as an impound lot. Relocation by the city and a private donation plan enabled its transition towards public reading space. The design centres on forest and water, incorporating vertical greenery, planting and paths linked to nearby Fengle Sculpture Park. Beyond trees placed at an entrance, the more substantial question is whether entrances, outdoor walking and green space can form a continuous everyday route.
Current renderings offer specific viewpoints. In the aerial view, groups of trees surround the building and planting extends onto terraces at different heights. From the approach path, water, curving circulation and broad glazing enter the foreground. These images express design intentions; final planting scale and actual use await completion. Forest reading can first be understood through distances, routes and openings between building and outdoors, beyond green as a visual style.
Design rendering of the approach path and water; actual use awaits completion.
Three levels give different readers distinct places
Floor1 is planned for children’s reading, older readers and new-book displays, placing family reading and senior needs on one level. Floor2 contains open stacks and a multipurpose classroom, linking borrowing, talks and reading programmes. Floor3 provides teenage reading and shared learning rooms for independent study and discussion. The emphasis is on relationships between users, activities and spaces, rather than changing decoration on each floor.
Interior renderings combine exposed-concrete walls, timber-coloured shelving and differently sized windows. Another stair scene places bookshelves, broad steps and cushions together, suggesting pauses during vertical movement. It poses a direct design question: beyond reaching a floor to find a book, can readers sit, browse and encounter outdoor light along the way? The images show potential use; final seat numbers and operating rules have not been announced.
Interior reading-area rendering studies shelving, exposed concrete and windows.Stair reading-space rendering places shelves and cushions beside broad steps.
Donation and fit-out are separate; year-end completion remains a target
Donor 汪世旭, chairman of Lobsang Corporation, is contributing more than NT$120million, with plans to donate the completed building to Taichung City Government for public-library use. Nantun District’s information separately records nearly NT$75million budgeted by the city for interior fit-out. These are distinct contributions, so the donated amount should not be treated as the total including every interior element. Construction began June19,2025, followed by a beam-raising ceremony on March26,2026; both are stages separate from targeted year-end completion.
The project continues the chairman’s experience running Lobsang Bookhouse in Xiwei, Wuri. The story of a charitable bookstore founded in2013 with a commitment to operate for ten years now extends towards a public library for all ages. Construction completion, formal opening and operating information are separate announcements to follow. For readers interested in Taichung architecture, the central question is how urban land moves from temporarily holding vehicles towards a daily place for people to stay and share knowledge.
