‘We couldn’t ignore that view’: penthouse duplex radically reshaped to make the most of Hong Kong panorama and create party space
- When a couple and their dogs moved into a duplex apartment with a rooftop in Hong Kong’s Mid-Levels, their priority was opening it up to host friends for parties
- Their architect, Damienne Joly, showed them how to create a ‘priceless vista’ downstairs, and added a barbecue, sitting area and drinks fridge on the roof
Soon after Covid-related lockdowns began, interior designers around the world and their clients began reappraising lifestyles. Isolation and the perceived need for rooms behind doors quickly led to predictions that open-plan layouts have had their day.
How things change.
“Counter to the pandemic, we wanted to have more friends around,” says Jacob Berman, explaining some of the thinking behind the redesign of the 1,800 sq ft (167 square metre) home in Mid-Levels on Hong Kong Island he shares with Keisha Moore and their two rescue dogs. “So we actually wanted things as open as possible.”
On the lower floor of their two-bedroom penthouse duplex, bought in 2021 and renovated this year, the couple enjoy an open lounge, dining area, work perch and kitchen.
But it’s not just these living areas that segue into each other on this level. By the staircase, and immediately accessible, is the vanity section of a bathroom blessed with sea views.
The clever elimination of a pocket door to this eye-catching, now enlarged area (once an enclosed storeroom/helper’s room), made cross breezes possible, afforded more northwestern light and, best of all, welcomed in a priceless vista.
