Main Features of the Harbor Building

The Harbor Building was originally designed to accommodate 12 government agencies. Suzuchi Ryouichi, the designer and constructor, thought that an orderly arrangement of the building couldn’t meet the needs of government agencies and the purpose of public’s convenience, so he designed the two buildings in two different heights. The main building has one floor underground and four floors on the ground, while the subsidiary building has three floors on the ground.

Because the building is close to the harbor and Keelung is rich in mountains and rain, and the rainstorm always made sea level higher, so Suzuchi Ryouichi attached special designs to the building such as the dry oven and the drainage system, and each floor was equipped with the gutter, through which rain flows to the sea.

The Style of the Construction and Decoration

The design of this building’s appearance is simple without gorgeous ornaments; the corner of the building is of a curve shape expressing the free style and the sense of smoothness of a building. This building exhibits a fresh and brilliant style by adopting horizontal laces and consecutive windows. The façade of the building is mainly of fabric-vein tiles, while the middle part is of granite tiles; the corridor is adorned with marbles and ceramic tiles, while the other parts with synthetic marbles.

The ceilings on the rooms for VIP, conference room, restaurant, room for the chief of the Customs Office, and the room for the chief of Harbor Construction are adorned with ornamental plates and gypsum sculptures and supported with the color of paint and wallpaper, exhibiting a new artistic flavor. These rooms have been transferred to offices of other purposes with new lighting apparatus, and only a few rooms keep the original decorations.

The original design of the windows was two-tier slider with the upper tier designed for ventilation, but they have been replaced by aluminum horizontal casement windows and some windows are made of cast iron. The corner of the stairway is of curve design, and the staircase is impregnated with cast iron. This design of geometrical shape exhibits “a new art” and “a school of decoration.” The space in each room is decorated with bronze articles; the wood used for interior decoration is lacquered, and exteriorly ornamented with redwood and cedar wood.

Location：6, Gangxi St., Ren’ai Dist., Keelung City 20041, Taiwan(R.O.C.)

 Front view of Harbor Building