Department of Cultural Affairs

Taiwan Railway Administration Taipei Railyard Bathhouse

Construction of Taiwan’s first railway began during the administration of Qing-dynasty governor Liu Mingchuan in the late nineteenth century. During the era of Japanese rule, colonial government engineer Hayami Kazuhiko designed the New Taipei Railway Production Yard. With thirty-nine buildings occupying nineteen hectares, it was the largest railway production yard of East Asia. Steam traveled through pipes from the factory boiler into the pool of the bathhouse, so that employees could wash before going home. The bathhouse is an important artifact of Taiwan’s labor history.
Design of the public bathhouse was influenced by Japanese Secession architecture, with a highly geometrical exterior design. The building is made of reinforced concrete with steel beams, and has a shell-like dome on its roof. The semi-cylindrical interior space is free of columns, and windows on both left and right sides allow sunlight in, creating a lofty, bright atmosphere...