Afeeling of disorientation hits you on a first spin around Aayla Knight's apartment. It might be the residual effect of having stepped from the lift into a dark, swanky area that resembles a nightclub lobby. Or it could be that as your eyes re-adjust to the light inside the flat, the tour takes in a series of seemingly never-ending spaces, leaving you unsure of how to retrace your steps back to the start.
Then there are the concealed doors, cupboards and light switches, and, at the entrance, the very visible sculpture of a man, wearing only a black cap and a smile, bowing to greet you. If he could speak, he'd say: "Welcome to my playroom."
Looking around, it is easy to conclude that this Mid-Levels flat has been designed primarily for Amie, Yoda and Leia, the three small dogs who share the 3,300 sq ft space with their owner, a Star Wars fan and banker with a penchant for retro-modern furniture, minimalist interior design and quirky art.
"I wanted some humour," says Knight, who tasked Eric Leung, of Mio Design, with the apartment's reconfiguration while she herself took care of the decor.
Her brief for Leung, with whom she had worked on her previous apartment, was to create convertible spaces "and lots of hidden storage" - so much, in fact, that Knight, who lives in the flat with two helpers, says only half of it is currently used.
Some of those concealed cupboards make up the 800 sq ft private zone, which, along with the rest of the flat, took six months to design and six more to renovate into a one-to-three bedroom home, depending on its set-up.