Surry Hills, one of Sydney’s most design-led neighbourhoods, will soon be home to a new concept that responds to the ever-changing way we use our homes. The aptly named HOW WE LIVE will soon launch in Taylor Square, bringing a thoughtful blend of Japanese and European design sensibilities to Sydney’s design community – and a pop-up event from Friday 28 November will offer a first glimpse into its dynamic world of furniture for living and working, homewares, art, stationery, and even house plants.
At its core, HOW WE LIVE is a response to the increasingly blurred lines between the spaces we use for living, working, and leisure.
This new concept store is the result of a powerful collaboration between the established Japanese design powerhouse, KOKUYO, and its lifestyle retail brand, ACTUS. KOKUYO, founded in 1905, creates experiences that quietly inspire the way people work, learn, and live. What began with paper has grown into a thoughtful collection of furniture, stationery, and creative tools guided by the belief that Curiosity is Life, embodying a fun and curious approach to design. Complementing this is ACTUS, the leading lifestyle retailer within the group, known for its refined and sophisticated aesthetic and focus on making everyday life at home more beautiful, functional, and enjoyable across Japan through a highly curated selection of quality goods. By merging KOKUYO’s expertise in functional, curiosity-driven design with ACTUS’s mastery of sophisticated lifestyle design, the two have created HOW WE LIVE, a unified destination that defines a new standard for integrated work and life.
The pieces that form the artfully curated HOW WE LIVE collection reflect this philosophy. There are sofas and lounge chairs from Eilersen, crafted with the comfort and precision that the Danish heritage brand has been perfecting for over a century; handcrafted dining furniture and storage from ACTUS that draw on the traditions of Japanese craft; and iconic lighting from Italian brand FLOS. Soft furnishings, rugs, throws, ceramics, kitchenware, books, and home fragrance from the likes of Culti Milano round out the offering, creating a holistic vision of home.
The flagship store opening early next year will present these objects in a sequence of lifestyle vignettes, from reading corners and living nooks, to dining settings and workspaces. The aim is to mirror the flow of home life and reflect the growing convergence between home and work life. Lighting, scent, and sound also play a part in the showroom experience, demonstrating the immersive power of a multisensory approach to design.
Another important ambition of the HOW WE LIVE concept is the creation of a hub for the city’s creative community. Beyond retail space, the showroom will also function as a gallery and gathering space, with events and workshops planned that will immerse visitors in the stories behind the design. HWL is also partnering with popular Japanese cafe Parami on an in-house dining destination offering a selection of onigiri (rice balls), rolls, soups, and muffins.
Before all of this takes shape, however, the pop-up event will offer a tantalising preview. Running from Friday, November 28, into the new year at 24 Wentworth Avenue, the experience begins on the ground floor, featuring goods like stationery, fragrance, homewares, and tableware. The preview then extends upstairs to showcase furniture and lighting, introducing visitors to the full breadth of brands and products that define the HOW WE LIVE personality.
For people who live through the objects they choose and for whom good design elevates the everyday, How We Live is a timely proposition. It offers a thoughtful collection curated for the increasing flexibility we need to design into our homes – and places this concept firmly within the context of Sydney life.