More wall space and a clean, crisp interior give Hong Kong flat the perfect mix of simplicity and detail
- Interior designer Liz Lau helped a couple renovate their 2,000 sq ft flat so they could display their art, but keep it looking like a home, not a gallery
- Removing a store room opened up the foyer and installing sliding doors between the living room and original enclosed kitchen created even more space
A lengthy deliberation over the complete renovation of a 2,000 sq ft (186 square metre) apartment on the top floor of a three-storey 1950s walk-up building in Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong, presented an exciting opportunity for architect and interior designer Liz Lau Win-wa, of design studio LAUD.
“It is unusual to discuss so many details of a build – most clients don’t want to know much beyond the colour palette and general style,” she says. “But there was a lot of discussion, as our client is an artist and meticulous. She was extremely focused on the craftsmanship involved. One of her first questions was, ‘How straight can we make the walls?’”
The answer: pretty darn straight. But it meant taking the responsibility away from the actual walls of the building. All internal walls and ceilings were lined with floating panels of strengthened plywood to ensure absolute 90-degree angles. An advantage was stronger and more durable walls for hanging the client’s substantial art collection.
“One of the problems was that they didn’t have enough wall space to display their art so we had to create more and make it cohesive so that it would be easy to change the works around as collectors often like to. But at the same time, they wanted their space to look like a home, not a gallery,” says Lau, referring to her clients, a couple, who live in the flat with their son.
Other than more wall space and a clean, crisp interior, the couple had a fairly short brief: they wanted to reorganise and refresh the interior, which had not been renovated in more than a decade. Though the previous layout afforded two bedrooms and two bathrooms, which they kept, removing a store room opened up the foyer. By installing sliding doors between the living room and original enclosed kitchen, a second area was opened.
“We were lucky to be able to work with so much space, especially as they don’t have that much stuff,” says Lau. “We didn’t have to find space for 50,000 pairs of shoes.
