Hot Shots: DHB Design Brings to Life a Fluid Showroom in Chengdu, China

This 1,300-square-foot showroom in the city’s upscale Fusen Mall is a good example of DHB Design’s thoughtful approach. The client, an Austrian company named BWT—an acronym for best water technology—manufactures water-treatment systems for residential, commercial, hospitality, healthcare, and industrial applications. Reflecting the company’s single-minded focus on the purification and conservation of the life-giving liquid, DHB sought to integrate “the flexibility and rhythm of water into the space, conveying that everything comes from water and, finally, that everything goes back to water.” To this end, the firm created an experiential environment centered on a freestanding capsule that’s large enough to enter—visitors can sample purified water inside—its distinctive shape inspired by the magnesium ions used in BWT’s patented technology. Made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic, matte stainless steel, and clear acrylic, the sculptural form gives the showroom an imposing focal point while effectively dividing it into two zones in which company products are displayed. The water theme, which extends to the predominantly blue-and-white color palette, finds fullest expression in a pair of floor-to-ceiling screens of milky reinforced-plastic panels polka-dotted with azure acrylic portholes, an effect that evokes the pattern of waves.