SMART ZENDO

智 能 禪 室

492 sq.ft I Coastal Skyline 藍天海岸, HK I 2019

Interpretation Of Smart Living With The Spiritual Details of Zen

以禪的精神細節詮釋智能生活

Urbanites are busy in working and they always eager to have a decent and quiet living space as an escape. "Zen" is a spiritual state that pursues inner peace and harmony. It is the healing agent that washes the mind and irritability. Moreover, the tremendous workload of urbanites also made it impossible to manage their homes. In recent years, smart home is introduced to control and improve the situation.

The owner of the apartment is a busy young couple, Eric and Lory. Sim-Plex uses the concept of the Zendo to bring the view of the scenery outside the window into the house. The integrated TV cabinet wall and the wooden floor platform are plain and warm, but yet there were a large number of intelligent devices hidden by.The design is also integrated to the traditional Feng Shui doctrine, to create a spiritual space where tradition and technology, people and scenery are combined.

都市人工作急促乏味，總渴望擁有予人恬靜的居住空間，「禪」是追求內心平靜，圓融無礙的精神狀態，恰恰正是洗滌心靈煩囂的療癒劑；早出晚歸或長期商旅的工作亦令不少人無法打埋家居，而近年興起的智能家居，則可遙距掌控家中情況，改善痛點。

本案屋主為工作忙碌的年輕夫婦Eric與Lory，Sim-Plex借以禪室的圓融概念，將窗外山林景緻引入家中，牆地一體的楓木收納機能與地台，外表是質樸溫暖的自然紋理，但暗藏大量智能機關，佈局上亦參考了傳統風水學說，以締造傳統與科技、人、景、物合一的心靈空間。

The Emotion of Homestay of Taiwan In Urban Living

Eric and Lory moved to Hong Kong from Taiwan many years ago and have a son; Eric needs to travel frequently throughout the country, and Lory is a flight attendant. They lack of time spending at home and often needs grandmother to take care of the children. Eric and Lory often talk about the scenery and homestay in Taiwan and they missed them so much. Sim-Plex lifts up the entire living room with wooden platform, and so that every corner can also sit down at will; in addition to a large amount of storage, the platform also hides the intelligent lifting coffee table, create a gathering point, sometimes as a tea ceremony, and sometimes as a toy’s playground; the dining room is made up of an open kitchen with a quartz stone high-top dining table and two arc-angle storage chairs, so no matter while cooking or dining, you could also enjoy the scenery outside the window; the windowsills of the two rooms are surrounded by wooden frames to match the natural scenery.

Haiku, the Japanese poetry, is deeply influenced by Zen. There are “season language" in the haiku.The Smart Zendo in this case is just like the seasonal language, and the four seasons of the scenery outside the window are introduced into the room to make the perfect merging of home and nature, so that the emotions of the homestay can be fermented.

如季語般的民宿鄉懷沖淡急促都市節奏

Eric與Lory多年前從台灣移居香港，育有一子； Eric的工作需頻繁穿梭各地工作，而Lory更是空服員，在家逗留的時間很少，很多時需嬤嬤去幫忙照顧小朋友。屋主常緬懷家鄉民宿濃厚的人情味及四季不同的醉人景緻。Sim-Plex於是在平面佈局上，先把整個客飯廳墊高成楓木地台，捨棄梳化，令廳中每個角落也可可隨意坐下；地台除可作大量收納外，亦暗藏智能升降茶几創造具溫度的聚點，時而進行茶道，時而作兒子的玩具遊樂場；客廳尾端做成開放式廚房，配以石英石高身餐枱，及兩張弧角收納餐椅，無論屋主是在煮食或用餐，也可欣賞窗外的山林； 兩房的窗台均圍了木框，配合自然景色。

俳句，即日本詩詞，深受禪的影響，俳句中有「季語」，即以四季入詩；本案智能禪室正恰似季語，以借景手法，把窗外山林的四季變化引入室內，令家與自然縫合，讓民宿鄉懷的情感可發酵。

The Combination of Traditional Feng Shui Aesthetics and Smart Technology

Smart homes are common in Hong Kong in recent years, but generally they have been shaped into a futuristic form. This pre-conceived approach seems have not explored the integration of smart intelligence into living. The unique feature of this project is that although a large number of hardware smart functions are combined: such as voice-activated synthesisers, various lamp systems and air-conditioning switches, curtain opening, lifting coffee tables, projection screens, electronic door locks, etc., remote control greatly saves the owner's time. At the same time, most of the design uses the natural materials to create a picture of the scenery. In the view of traditional Feng Shui, this project also refers to its relevant doctrine and adjusts accordingly.

傳統風水美學與現代科技的糅合

智能家居近年在香港很常見，但普遍把智能塑造為富未來感的表象，這種先入為主的做法似乎仍未探討智能生活的融入性。本案其中獨特之處是雖糅合大量硬裝智能機能：如聲控綜合器、各燈制及冷氣開關、窗簾開合、升降茶几、投影屏幕、電子門鎖等，遙遠控制大大節省了屋主的時間；但同時設計上大多取用質樸具溫度的物料，營造物景合一的畫面。而在傳統風水學上，本案亦有參考其相關學說並因應調整。

Feng Shui is a traditional Chinese choices of living and an important cultural heritage. The owner Eric also has a deep analysis on Feng Shui. The layout of the living room is adjusted according to his view of Feng Shui: Left Queen Dragon, Right White Tiger, Queen Dragon represents men and nobles, White Tiger represents ladies and wealth. The right balance between them could ensure the luckiness of the family. The TV storage cabinet wall in the living room is generally symmetrical; and in addition to the large TV in the living room, there is also a small TV on the dining table to balance the situation; the owner Eric also claimed their family owes one of the five elements - “wood”. The material distribution of the maple veneer on the storage cabinet wall is a hidden expression of the word "wood" to compensate for the lack. Although the traditional Feng Shui aesthetics and smart technology seems to be contradictory, if could applied properly, they could also have their compatibility.

風水是中國傳統的擇居論說，是重要的文化傳承。屋主Eric對風水學亦甚有研究，客廳的佈局亦有按其依據：風水常言左青龍，右白虎，青龍位代表男士及貴人，白虎代表女士及財運，左右平衡可保障了夫妻之間的和諧， 客廳的電視收納櫃牆因此大致左右對稱；而且除客廳的大電視外，餐枱那邊亦有小電視，以平衡左右；屋主Eric亦道他們家庭成員五行之間欠「木」，而收納櫃牆的楓木飾面分佈恰恰隱約呈現「木」字的造型，以補其不足。傳統風水美學與智能科技表面雖看似矛盾，但若運用得宜，其實仍有其相融性。

The Transformation of Space Expands Two Rooms To Four Rooms.

The old residence was originally a two-bedroom living space. Because Eric and Lory often travelled, the grandmother often came to take care of the children but there was no room for her to take rest, and even have no room for maid. Sim-Plex then changed the old kitchen room to a maid and storage room. In the living room TV cabinet, there were five hidden slide- folding doors. If grandmother needs to stay at home to take care of the child, the slide- folding doors could be pull out as the fourth rooms, there are also louvers on the top of the door for ventilation, and the embossed strip glass can also retain sunlight; the corridor also hides a sliding door, allowing the living room and the bedroom to maintain its privacy.

The bathroom has small window, so the white marble tiles are used to increase the luminosity, and the melamine ecological waterproof board of the cabinet is used to create the style like a boutique hotel;The wooden platform of the son’s bedroom has a space which could sit directly on the platform; The drawer in the master bedroom has a hidden make-up table that can sit at the edge of the bed and use.

空間的機能變化令兩房變四房

舊居原本只是兩房的居住空間，由於Eric與Lory經常出差，嬤嬤過來照顧孩子亦沒房間可休息，更枉論聘請傭人。Sim-Plex於是將已搬出飯廳的舊廚房位改為傭人及儲物房；而在客廳電視櫃內則暗藏五道趟摺門，若嬤嬤需要暫住在家照顧小孩，則可拉出作為第四房間，門頂上亦有格柵可透氣，壓紋條子玻璃亦可保留日光；走廊亦暗藏趟門，令廳與房能保持其私密性。

浴室本身窗户較少，所以選用白雲石紋磚增加光度，配以淺榆木防水生態板，營造出精品酒店的格調；兒房的地台留有放腳位，可直接坐在地台用書枱；主人房衣櫃的抽屜藏有可掀式梳妝枱，可坐在床邊上使用。

The spirit of "Zen" is the pursuit of harmony. The "Smart Zendo" is based on the spiritual details of “Zen", trying to combine natural scenery and emotion of homestay, traditional Feng Shui aesthetics and smart technology.

「禪」的精神是追求圓融合一，本案「智能禪室」所體現的是以「禪」的精神細節，嘗試結合自然景緻、傳統風水美學、智能科技及民宿鄉懷以達至人、景、物合一的圓融理想狀態。