AIA UK Building Tour Series 2025 - The Blue by Just Inn, Spheron Architects

Photo Credit: Yu Zhi Lin

AIA UK’s Building Tours once again take a look inside the exceptional projects which were recognised at last year’s AIA UK Excellence in Design Awards. We are excited to take you on an online tour of The Blue by Just Inn, by Spheron Architects, which received a Commendation in the Professional - Medium Projects category.

When: Thursday 17 April 2025, 18.30
Where: Online
CES Credits - Estimated 1.0 LU/HSW for AIA Members

RIBA Members may count this activity towards their CPD recording requirement.

Speaker

Tszwai So, Spheron Architects

Description

The Blue is an experimental transformation of a 50-year-old commercial building in central Taipei into a public art piece/functioning hotel for a Taiwan-based affordable hotel chain. Originally built in 1970 as an insurance office, the ten-story, 2,000 m² building was retrofitted to explore low-cost, low-carbon renovation strategies common in the Global South. The newly refurbished hotel features 56 guest rooms and a free art space on the GF. The project minimised carbon emissions by upcycling waste materials from the original structure into new artworks and installations. Retaining much of the existing fabric and rejuvenating components instead of demolishing them ensured sustainability while lending the interior a raw, natural aesthetic. This marks the most ambitious project under the ‘Emotionalist’ initiative, an international art/architecture movement reflecting on humanity in an AI-dominated era. Inspired by the Taiwan Blue Magpie, the building’s striking blue hue comes from locally sourced iron oxide.

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