Water-yard House: Redefining luxe living

By Neehar Mishra

Photography: Ng Siu Fung; courtesy the architect

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Interior designer Horace Pan’s latest project for Landcom Group in Shenzhen, China reinterprets traditional architecture with a modern lens...

Blending the modern with the traditional, the artificial with the natural and the indoor with the outdoor have been common architectural practices for many a year now. The Water-yard House in Shenzhen, China by Hong Kong-based ace designer Horace Pan is a one-of-a-kind, beautiful assimilation of all of these elements.

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Its area of 1,500 sq. m. is spread over five levels around a rectangular indoor swimming pool that takes the prominent position of a central courtyard, giving a modern twist to the traditional Chinese courtyard-house design. Elements of the natural landscape too are incorporated into the design, with glass walls connecting the pool to the rest of the home and a motorised skylight atop the 3-storey atrium augmenting the visual aura of the villa.

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The interiors, mostly done in timber and white and grey marble, lend the place a luxe, earthy and calm ambience in an open-plan layout. With the living and dining areas flanking the swimming pool, with an open kitchen behind, on the ground level, the more private areas – the bedrooms are housed on the first and second levels, ingeniously privatised by full-height vertical timber slats.

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Wooden walls, high ceilings and soothing white lighting make the home a warm and intimate yet spacious setting for relaxing and entertaining guests.  Well-equipped with good acoustics and a double-height central area with suspended copper-tube LED lights, basements 1 and 2 make ideal party spaces.

   

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Making the most of its external environment, Water-yard House’s design and layout enables energy conservation with the sky-well regulating indoor lighting and the water-yard itself regulating the indoor temperature during warmer months.