Strip tease

Text Jane Steer / Styling Anji Connell / Photography John Butlin

This is a tale of two ribbons. Or, to be more precise, twin bands of laminate that snake around this Tai Kok Tsui apartment on parallel lines. Set against unadorned white walls, the bands are the visual focus as they dip and turn to accommodate seating, entertainment and storage.

“The ribbons define the space,” says FAT Design Studio’s Tony Tsui Wing-fai, who bought the 700 sq ft apartment (540 square feet net) direct from the developer as a new-build and spent six months working on the design, knocking out non-structural walls. “It took so long because I kept tweaking. The main idea was to make a place where the space is integrated although it’s still two rooms.”

It’s an effective device. Starting in the living area, the lower band extends from the bay window and dips to create a reading nook, a seat and an entertainment centre. There’s a long, almost empty, display shelf, then the band drops at the corner to create a step to the bedroom, folds back up to form a large desk and continues as display and window shelving to the end of the apartment. The upper band is simpler, running on one plane in the living area, rising over the bedroom entrance and dropping down to form a shelf above the cosy study space.

Tsui, who trained as an architect in Melbourne, Australia, chose a plastic laminate with a random wood pattern for the ribbons.

“In Australia, they use a lot of timber but it doesn’t work so well in Hong Kong as it tends to warp in the humidity; that’s why I chose laminate. I kept the background as plain as possible and used the timber as a highlight,” he says. “Less is more.” The bands are so effective at drawing the eye that the discreet rows of white cupboards lining the spaces above and below them virtually disappear. At night, LED backlighting further accentuates the ribbons, bathing the apartment in an ethereal blue glow.