Taipei Dome Opens as Asia’s New Landmark Baseball Arena

Celebrations for the launch of Taipei Dome occurred on the 3rd December with excited fans snapping up tickets in seconds to get a seat at the arena’s inaugural baseball game.

For over a decade, anticipation has been building to see Taiwan’s first-of-its-kind integrated mixed use development open in a unique city-based location to become part of a new precinct bringing together culture, commerce, sport and public life for the people of Taipei.

Located in the heart of the city and bound by tight site set-back boundaries, the 40,000-seat indoor baseball arena is multipurpose in its design and capable of hosting 58,000 fans in concert mode.

Populous Senior Principal and Director Brett Wightman said the arena is located within a historic precinct in the city, next to a prominent cultural site.

“In response, the design of the baseball dome and two retail buildings were careful to respect the surroundings and fit comfortably within the existing city centre as a world class indoor sports and entertainment venue.

“For a major city to attract the best in international events and welcome large cultural and sporting activities it needs to have the right type of facilities. To assist in the management of large groups of fans attending these events, the arena design integrates into the existing metro train infrastructure to deliver a transport orientated entertainment precinct,” Wightman said.

The facade is wrapped in titanium cladding and the internal perspective of Taipei Dome was designed primarily around a Major League Baseball field while maintaining the flexibility to utilise the venue for exhibitions, concerts and conventions.

The stadium has 36 luxury entertainment suites and is the first in Taiwan to designate separate male and female umpire’s lockers and lounges.

The design enclosed the venue by forming a tightly fit 55,000m² domed geometry. This geometry has become a true free form double curvature, meaning complex dimensioning for both the documentation and construction phases.

“The internal perspective has an exposed main roof structure and extensive use of parametric computer engineering during the documentation period to optimise both the form and the cladding modulations,” Wightman said.

Set to become an iconic building within the city of Taipei as part of the Taipei Cultural and Sports Park development, the next stages of development for the arena will include 200,000sqm of integrated themed retail, offices and apartments and a hotel.

Populous commenced the initial master plan studies on the project in 2001 with detailed design schemes for the domed arena developed in 2007 and again in 2011.

The Taipei Dome was developed by the Far Glory Group as one of the biggest developments in Taiwan and will create a major sport and cultural designation point within the city.