How Hong Kong walk-up flat became a hi-tech rooftop retreat
Pop-up furniture, secret storage and technology transform a Hollywood Road walk-up into a sleek, eco-friendly nest, writes Christopher DeWolf
Five floors above a traffic-choked stretch of Hollywood Road seems an unlikely place to find a hi-tech, eco-friendly flat. But sure enough, here on the top floor of a grimy tong lau walk-up, local studio Liquid Interiors has created a slick new space for a no-fuss, healthy lifestyle.
“The client really wanted something techie, sustainable and healthy,” says Rowena Gonzales, founder of Liquid Interiors. Making the task harder, the flat measures just 400 square feet, with a single large room facing Hollywood Road and a narrow corridor leading to a bathroom at the back.
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“It’s like, how can we take this really small flat and make it what he wants? We ended up looking at it in terms of transformability,” says Gonzales.
That approach is most obvious in the kitchen, a sleek, minimalist space dominated by metallic walls and an island with a four-burner gas range, an extendable counter and a pop-up extractor fan. The walls fold away to reveal shelves, counter space and an oven.
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Instead of a wall between the kitchen and bedroom, Gonzales designed a floor-to-ceiling storage unit, with cupboard doors into the bedroom and a blackboard for chalk messages in the kitchen.