Dwellings | Huizhou: A Future Home Between Mountains and Sea

HUAWEI HarmonyOS Smart Home's largest store in the Greater Bay Area opened at Wanshicheng in Huizhou: 1,600 square metres, designed by BDSD Boundless Design, with Lin Wenke and Sun Zhengyuan as design directors. Inside is a complete home, and the furniture credit reads Dak Haan.

The designers worked on four levels: petal and mountain-and-sea motifs running through the whole space; a public "Mountains-and-Sea HarmonyOS axis" linking every zone without a break; function and local culture feeding one another; and, finally, everything unfolding around "people + car + home". The space divides into a salon and public area, the smart-home experience area, a retail and reception area, and offices.

The entrance borrows the natural curve of Shuangyue Bay and merges it with the petal form of the Huawei logo into a great curved opening reaching inwards. To its left grows a real garden of plants and moss, blurring the line between made and natural.

Along the axis, the walls on either side open like facing mountains, and hidden light strips spread along their curves to lead the way. At the end, a circular wall encloses the salon: a place to wait, talk, read or be alone.

The designers imagined it as a home where someone wakes, someone falls asleep, someone waits for family coming home late.

The living and dining rooms form one open, continuous space without hard partitions. Curved Youmi Sofas and rugs are arranged to enclose a small "island". A family can curl up here to watch the fire, talk, or each do their own thing; every corner is rounded, and people slow down and loosen up as soon as they come in.

Behind the sofas is the bar: a warm stone counter and a run of open shelving, with light falling along the edges of each shelf. Pull up one of the red Chuanliu Bar Stools, make a coffee or pour a glass of water, and sit for a while: the easiest few minutes of the day.

The dining table is a soft oval with every edge rounded, and fluid linear lights hang from the ceiling to cross in a glow on the table. In the kitchen, the cabinets open as the lights come on and the seasonings are brought to hand, leaving the focus of cooking and the pleasure of gathering wholly to people.

The care room is meant for older family members, quietened with soft beige and gentle fabrics. Outside the master-bedroom window is a lit screen of Huizhou's mountains and sea, peaks appearing and fading in cloud. In the bathrooms, water temperature, lighting and curtains need no adjusting; the system already knows its owners' preferences.

The car becomes an extension of the home. Technology hides in the lights that come on when you arrive and in the warmth quietly made ready. As the designers write, it is not about spending more time on devices, but giving time back to what matters: family, focused work, quiet solitude, or simply gazing at the sea for a while.

Furniture is the same. Good furniture doesn't steal the scene; it is simply there when someone wants to sit down.