Have you played the recently popular Switch fitness game 'Ring Fit Adventure'? It's just as fun as you visit the energy gym in the "Taipower D/S One"! Taipower today (24th) held the opening ceremony of the Taipower D/S One. Located in the Xinban Special District, next to the HiMall and the Banqiao Station, Taipower D/S One not only is the first green energy themed exhibition hall in Taiwan, it is also the first exhibition hall built on a substation. Under the exhibition hall is the Xinmin Power Distribution Substation which acts as the heart to provide power in New Taipei City, meeting the power needs of the Xinban Special District and providing stable power supply for the three rail system-integrated Banqiao Station. Taipower said that the debuted interactive 'energy gym' of the Taipower D/S One allows people to feel the power of energy while playing and exercising. In the Taipower D/S One, you can also find Taiwan’s first six-axis robot that integrated with virtual reality (VR), making it the best exhibition hall in Taiwan!
Taipower held the opening ceremony of the 'Taipower D/S One' green energy exhibition hall in Xinmin Multi-Purpose Building of Banqiao this afternoon. The opening ceremony was jointly unveiled by Wen-Sheng Zeng, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Wei-Fu Yang, Chairman of Taipower, Ming-Ji Wu, Deputy Mayor of New Taipei City, and distinguished guests of the exhibition design team, announcing the start of the trial operation of the Taipower D/S One.
Taipower explained that Xinmin Building is located next to HiMall in Banqiao. It has a height of about 85 meters, a total of 21 floors, including 17 floors above ground and 4 underground floors. It has won the Golden Award for Public Construction and the Excellent Award in the architectural category. Besides more than 500 employees of Taipower who will be stationed in the Taipei South District Business Office, the underground floors are also quite unique. The four floors, from B1 to B4, are the heart of power for the New Taipei City-Xinmin Power Distribution Substation. It fulfills the power needs of the Xinban Special District and provides stable power supply for the three rail system-integrated Banqiao Station (Taiwan High Speed Rail, MRT, Taiwan Railway), with an annual power supply of more than 600 million kWh, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of more than 150,000 households in one year. In response to the characteristics of the Xinban Special District, Taipower established the 'Taipower D/S One' exhibition hall on the 1st and 2nd floor of the building, covering an area of nearly 300 square meters to interact with the public.
Taipower collaborated with the design team, Cogitoimage International, which created the Discovery Pavilion of the Taichung World Flora Expo and the SONY Dream Discovery Enterprise Museum. In addition, Professor Shu-Zhang Gong of the Graduate Institute of Architecture, National Chiao Tung University, was invited as the chief organizer for the exhibition. The consultant of the Taiwan Design Center, Mr. Guang-Min Zhang, also known as the "Taiwan Design and Development Living Dictionary" was invited as the art consultant for the exhibition. Qiang Lin, who has won awards in events such as the Cannes Film Festival, Golden Horse and Golden Melody Awards, was invited as the music director for the exhibition, forming a strong cross-field team.
Taipower pointed out that the Taipower D/S One hopes to adopt the concept of "interactive exhibition" to turn ordinary electricity into an electric fantasy space that attracts people’s interest. The name D/S One comes from the original name of the Distribution Substation (D/S) and incorporates the concept of Design and Sustainability. One stands for the address number "1" and also symbolizes Taipower's first green energy-themed exhibition. The design of the exhibition hall's logo is based on the familiar "lightning" symbol and combined the exclamation mark, hoping that people will see a different Taipower. The "urban light well" at the entrance was originally a Taiwan Railway’s engine room and underground vent. The design team used a matte metal plate to cover it up, creating a technological atmosphere. During the day, the urban light well reflects the city street scene, while it demonstrates the fluctuation of solar energy through lights at night.
According to Taipower, the Taipower D/S One is the first green energy-themed exhibition hall in Taiwan, and is also the first exhibition hall built on the substation. The 2-floor exhibition hall includes 3 areas; the 'POWERLAB' energy maker space on the first floor similar to Apple store, the energy gym, 'ENERGYM', on the second floor combining the concepts of Energy and Gym, and the art gallery space connecting to the HiMall.
Taipower mentioned that the energy gym makes the Taipower D/S One different from the typical static exhibition. It is equipped with five green energy-themed interactive areas: the 'hydraulic bounce', the 'wind dance', the 'photovoltaic movement', the 'wave battle rope' and the 'geothermal flywheel'. The exhibition area combines actions such as bouncing, dancing machine, basketball shooting machine, swinging battle rope, and flywheels, combining with interactive lighting, natural sounds, and multimedia animations. At the 1st floor entrance of the Taipower D/S One is the six-axis robot which is the first in Taiwan. The robot is equipped with the future energy-themed virtual reality (VR) imaging technology, allowing people to understand power and energy while playing and exercising, making it the most fun exhibition hall in Taiwan!
On the 1st floor of the exhibition hall, the energy maker space, POWERLAB, will be stationed by artists, designers, energy teachers and other Makers. Combined with on-site 3D printers, vacuum forming molds, laser engraving and other equipment, regular workshops and lectures will be held via joint-created experiments.
Taipower pointed out that the trial operation will start tomorrow (25th), and the exhibition hall will be open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm. The exhibition is expected to be officially opened in January. In response to Christmas Eve, Taipower held a pre-opening day tonight from 5:00 pm to 8:30 pm, allowing people to come and experience the energy gym in advance. Visitors will have the chance to get free Haagen-Dazs ice cream and candy canes. For more information, please visit our official website, Facebook and IG.