Designers work magic in a 309 sq ft Hong Kong microflat

It's not often that an interview is conducted sitting on a toilet. But in Michelle Tennant and Andy Knight's 309 sq ft microflat in Central, this doesn't feel unusual because nothing is as it seems past the front door: in this box of tricks, typically permanent fixtures disappear and furniture is pulled seemingly from thin air as design magic shape-shifts spaces and affords a glimpse into the future.

That's why we find ourselves, on the day of the home shoot, sitting on the lid of a compact receptacle, posing questions in a corner extremity while trying to keep out of the camera frame. Elsewhere, six bodies prepare the stage and three resident "miaow-miaows" tread the boards on a long, overhead cat run.

In front of our eyes, a bathtub morphs into a sofa-cum-bed, a television wall slides out from beside a fridge, a countertop opens to offer a sink, and overhead shelves descend to reveal a fully stocked kitchen.

View the transformation of the flat in this video, by LAAB

Wielding the wand is Otto Ng Chun-lun, who turned theory into reality when he and the design studio he co-founded, LAAB (a "laboratory for art and architecture"), transformed a tiny flat into a smart home that accommodates a large TV for movie nights, a generous kitchen, a dining room, space in which to exercise and guests, should they stay over.