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A Hong Kong family flat gets a sleek redesign with a New York state of mind

How a Mid-Levels West apartment got the modern renovation recognition it deserved when its 3 adult occupants opted to go big with their home decor

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A Hong Kong high-rise home becomes a stylish and  contemporary home, blending New York vibes with practical Japanese design. Photo: Courtesy Hoo

A true family home in every sense of the word, this Mid-Levels West high-rise has served the multigenerational Chan/Tong household for more than two decades.

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Over various stages since it was bought new in 2002, the 1,830 sq ft apartment has comfortably accommodated two parents, a grandparent, two children and a live-in helper. Now, it’s just Lily Tong, husband Leo Chan, daughter Janice and Biggie, the French bulldog. By mid-2022, it was time for a first-ever major renovation.

Having spent some years working in the United States, Janice brought ideas for a contemporary, New York-style vibe, while Lily had certain requirements of her own. Hoo studio founder YC Chen and senior designer Keene Lam Wai-kin incorporated those preferences but were responsible for much of the design inspiration.

Realising their clients were “open to bold suggestions”, Chen says, the designers set to work.

With only two bedrooms needed, the layout offered scope for a generous reconfiguration of what was originally four bedrooms and three family bathrooms plus a helper’s room with a fourth bathroom. Before they got to that, however, an odd triangular corner of the living room – problematic for furniture placement – had to be sorted. A solution was to realign the offending wall to form a more useful rectangular living room, allowing the carved-out corner to become a storage room accessed from behind.

The dining nook designed by Hoo. Photo: Courtesy Hoo
The dining nook designed by Hoo. Photo: Courtesy Hoo
The boldest of the designers’ ideas belongs to the dining area. Rather than plonking a table in the middle of the room, Chen proposed a banquette-style arrangement that would deliver both smoother circulation flow and more intimate dining. A slight realignment of one wall, formerly delineating an unnecessary corridor, was key to the plan. The addition of curved ebony veneer pillars at either end of the banquette and a timber and mirror installation in between succeeds in cocooning the booth in cosy yet dramatic detail.
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