Sustainable Architecture in the Forest:

Repeated power generation

Located in the mountains near the Wushe River, the Wanda plant was built in the era of Japanese rule and is one of Taiwan’s oldest electricity generating stations. The Wushe Reservoir, which it manages, is located on the far upper reaches of the Zhuoshui River, and is the starting point for the river’s entire power generation system. The reservoir supplies water not only to the Sun Moon Lake hydropower system, but also for downstream industrial uses and agricultural irrigation. When speaking of the Wanda facility, which has an attached environmental education station, Director Lin Ruei-bin emphasizes its vital position in the overall hydrological system.

There are a number of reservoirs and water storage facilities across the Zhuoshui River Basin which use differences in elevation to guide water to power plants to generate electricity. In other words, as water flows from the upper to the lower stretches of the river, every drop is used over and over again to produce energy. In Taiwan, where high mountains and fast-flowing waterways are not conducive to large-scale water storage, the entire system showcases engineering genius in adapting to the terrain, allocating water resources, and combining efficiency with sustainability.

Today, many decades after it was built, the Wanda plant still operates tirelessly. However, due to the aging of the scattered office and accommodation structures at the facility, new office space was required in order to enhance management and communications efficiency.

The abundant water provided by the Wanda River and held in the Wushe Reservoir is used to generate power before it flows into the Zhuoshui River. 

Buildings in the mountain forests

Turning our car onto a mountain road, we navigate several curves before finally reaching the Wanda facility. Here, at over 900 meters above sea level, we are surrounded on all sides by primeval forest.

Architect Huang Ming-wei tell us: “The most important aspect of this project was to enable the complex [comprising an office building and conference hall] to blend into the environment.” Huang was especially inspired by the surrounding layered mountain peaks. The roof of the office building consists of overlapping sloping surfaces recalling mountainous terrain and resembling a crinkle-eyed smile emoticon, ^^.

The facility’s two ponds provide another nature-­interactive element. One is a natural flood detention pond, while the other is a “reflecting pool” in which one can see the sky and buildings, extending the scenery to the moving surface of the water.

Approaching the tranquil project site with “humility,” Huang proposed wood structures to Taipower, a continuation of his firm’s promotion of such buildings in recent years. “Wood is a natural, breathable material that doesn’t retain heat and can absorb moisture,” he notes. Timber buildings have a relatively positive impact in areas including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, managing water and wastewater, and biodiversity. “Moreover, Taipower has made sustainable development a mainstay of its corporate ESG policy and was willing to go with an all-wood structural design, which in itself was a big step.”

Lin Ruei-bin, director of Wanda Hydro Power Plant, says that in the future every Taipower generating facility will follow a strategy of harmonious coexistence with the surrounding ecology.

This glass wall brings natural scenery indoors.

1. Y-shaped beams are used for this ceiling, demonstrating a spatial aesthetic combining structural mechanics and geometry.

2.The buildings are made with glued laminated timber, which is strong and not prone to warping like raw lumber.

From power generation to coexistence

The new complex at the Wanda power plant is built mainly of wood, with structural elements made from glued laminated timber (glulam), which has superior strength and obviates the problem of warping that may affect raw lumber. The all-wood construction reduced damage to the soil by minimizing the need to use rollers to compact the ground for the foundations. The timber components were mostly assembled in a factory and transported to the site to be erected, greatly reducing the ecological impacts of construction dust and noise. In 2025 the building was recognized by the Ministry of the Interior with a Gold Level Green Building Label.

The Wanda plant is the earliest Taipower facility to be certified as an environmental education venue. During the company’s program to expand power generation in the Wushe Reservoir area, completed in 2013, the Taiwan soybean (Glycine max subsp. formosana), a native wild relative of the common soybean, was discovered growing locally, and employees enthusiastically committed themselves to its restoration. Today, there are regular weekly guided tours to share the results of many years of observations of nature and local human culture. In 2026, the facility even became one of the first ever locations certified by the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency for its “other effective area-­based conservation measures” (OECMs).

Thanks to eco-friendly measures taken by builders and site managers, the role of the Wanda Hydro Power Plant has subtly changed from being simply a generator of energy to a place of dialogue with nature. In the struggle between development and the environment, perhaps we can find a gentler and more sustainable form of coexistence. 

Taiwan’s native soybean subspecies was discovered around the Wanda plant and an effort has been made to revitalize its cultivation. Wanda was the earliest Taipower facility to be certified as an environmental education venue.

The Wanda Hydro Power Plant embodies the memories of early hydroelectric development while responding to the contemporary demand for sustainability.­