HE INTERACTION Community by PMT Partners – Transforming Village Fabric into a Cultural Anchor

A Vision Rooted in Community & Culture

Launched in 2022 by the HE Foundation in partnership with the Shunde District Social Innovation Center, the HE INTERACTION project sets out to rethink community-space through art, culture, architecture and social engagement. PMT Partners were commissioned to lead the transformation of a vacant four-storey homestead in Ronggui’s Fisherman’s Wharf precinct into a dynamic platform for local culture, art activities and community interaction. 

From Idle Building to Cultural Anchor

The original building sat idle for years within the dense typology of a village bordering an industrial zone. It bridged city, village and factory—overlooked yet key. PMT’s design asked key questions:

• How to give the building an identity, make it visible in the neighbourhood? 
• How to treat it as space not just object, so it co-exists with surroundings?
• How to reflect local cultural elements and reveal the site’s “genes”?
• And how to express layers of time, allowing history to show through?

Architectural Strategy: “Spiritual Lighthouse” & Everyday Field

On the rooftop, they placed a light volume with inverted arch and slender columns—a symbol of welcome, of gathering. During day the volume echoes wings; at night it glows as a beacon for the neighbourhood. At the street level, a bold red volume lines the alley, with slender windows framing interior displays and community interaction. This dual gesture (“ritual at the top” + “grounded daily life below”) anchors the project both spiritually and socially.

Design Details: Gaps, Layers & Hidden Histories

PMT Partners honoured the building’s past by preserving raw concrete slabs, red-brick walls and narrow alley setbacks. The facade’s slender vertical windows frame views out to life in the street and invite interaction. Interior floors reflect old/new: antique red tile pod flooring meets a display wall from 500 mm to 2,900 mm height — new layer over historical base. The building becomes a timeline in built form.

Community Activation & Cultural Ecology

More than architecture, the HE INTERACTION Community is a platform for cultural regeneration. With partners including 7+5 Public Welfare Design Organisation, the site hosts exhibitions, workshops, writing groups and neighbour-driven programmes. The ambition: spark a regional art ecology, reinvigorate urban villages, strengthen dialogue between local culture and contemporary life.

All the photographs are works of Zhe Zeng, Liky Lam, PMT Partners