IN A DIMINUTIVE FLAT, most homeowners would search for scaled-down furniture to fit the small rooms. For Andrew Li, however, his paramount objective was to squeeze a two-metre-long baby grand piano into his 770-square-foot apartment. 'This was one of the major functional issues,' says Li, an associate professor in architecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who has been playing piano since he was four. Li bought the new unit in Tai Kok Tsui, with its views of the West Kowloon Typhoon Shelter, 18 months ago, and asked architect and friend Vincent Lim (VeT Architecture of Singapore, tel: 65 9786 3482; vincentl@singnet.com.sg ) to redesign the space. Thinking long-distance designing might cause problems, Li enlisted the help of his former student Ng Lung-wai, now of Executive Strategy (tel: 6092 3882), who acted as contractor and project manager for the work. 'We get along very well so I can be direct with him and he understands how I think,' says Li. Why didn't Li, as a qualified architect, design his own home? 'I know my limits and I also know a better architect when I see one,' he explains, acknowledging Lim's experience in the field. Lim and Li agreed walls had to come down, particularly in the rooms off the living-room. Whereas typical off-the-shelf Hong Kong flats focus on the living/dining area immediately inside the front door, Li wanted to shift the heart of the interior beyond that. What was an angled corridor with a second and third bedroom on one side and a maid's room on the other, is now one big space housing his piano. Fortunately, the resulting unorthodox shape means better acoustics than he would have had if the rooms were cleanly square. Furthermore, Lim has put the 'poches' (the architectural term for leftover pockets of space) to good use, whether for storage, bookshelves or concealing air-conditioning equipment. Wide window ledges are a favourite of Hong Kong developers and Li dealt with the 'hideous' marble ones in this apartment by having them clad in maple veneer. Despite the limited space, he avoided putting furniture near the windows, thereby retaining the feeling of spaciousness. Li's other requirements related to disguising the air-conditioners and providing a guest-room. 'And because Vincent knows me well, he knew I'd need a place to study and put books,' he says. The maid's room now forms an alcove housing a sycamore-veneer-clad study next to the piano. Perpendicular to it is a space that becomes a guest-room by sliding across a sycamore veneer panel. Otherwise the panels peel back to extend the space around the piano, capturing more of the view and light. When it comes to lighting, Li has an aversion to ceiling lights. 'Not only do I not like the light they give, I don't like the shadows they cast, and I think they make rooms look unpleasant,' he says. Instead of a uniform, glaring glow, Li prefers table lamps and desk lights, which 'bounce light off the walls'. With a blended palette of timbers, the warming effect strikes a harmonious chord. 1. Li next to his prized Yamaha baby grand, which he bought second-hand 10 years ago for about $30,000. Piano keys and the instrument's tuning are sensitive to humidity so Li maintains moisture levels of below 70 per cent using dehumidifiers. Wooden venetian blinds, made-to-measure by GOD (Leighton Centre, Sharp Street East, Causeway Bay, tel: 2890 5555; www.god.com.hk ) have been installed throughout the apartment because it is flooded with sunlight at the end of the day. Li finds the timber softens the glare and adds a touch of the tropics. 2. A floor-to-ceiling maple veneer bookcase runs the length of the living and dining area. Originally, Li wanted a more slender structure, but his architect proposed a solid module comprising four-centimetre-thick vertical and horizontal elements, which Li concedes has greater presence. Vertical dividers are designed to protrude slightly, giving the unit a sense of rhythm. The Aluminium Group leather lounge chair and ottoman ($18,000) next to the window is by Charles Eames for Herman Miller ( www.hermanmiller.com ; Luk Kwok Centre, 72 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2821 3140). 3. A portal in the bookshelves becomes a doorway with space above to conceal the air-conditioning units. 4. Beside the Le Corbusier-inspired Bently sofa from Air in Singapore (S$2,100/HK$9,441; 9 Penang Road, Singapore, tel: 65 6352 7307; www.airdivision.co.uk ) is the aluminium Emu sidetable, which turns into a stepladder for the bookshelves (from Actus, 2-19-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, tel: 81 3 5269 3207; www.actus-interior.com ). 5. Propped on the floor behind an aluminium coffee table on castors from Muji ($980, Lee Theatre Plaza, 99 Percival Street, Causeway Bay, tel: 2808 0622) are watercolours of the Jiangnan region by Yang Yihui, a professor at Tongji University in Shanghai. 6. The aluminium dining table ($3,800) is from Muji and the foam, steel and aluminium .03 dining chairs are by Maarten van Severen for Vitra ( www.vitra.com ; $1,900 each from Pacific Decor, Luk Kwok Centre, 72 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2520 2122). A handy sycamore veneer shelf delineates the dining from the living area. 7. To maximise space, built-in furniture is a key feature. The custom-made sycamore veneer master bed sits on a raised plinth (unseen) that provides storage and incorporates bedside tables. TRIED AND TESTED: OPEN AND SHUT CASE The original layout of Li's apartment had no storage space in the master bedroom, so he asked Lim to create a walk-in closet next to the bedroom entrance. Doors to the closet and bedroom are sliding rather than hinged to create less of an obstruction, and finished in mirrored glass, which gives a 'hall of mirrors' effect when closed. Most walk-in wardrobes have solid walls and therefore no natural light, making them feel like storage black holes. A solid wall would have made the bedroom seem smaller so Lim installed clear glass on the wall facing the bedroom to give more sense of space and let in light. Timber venetian blinds can be closed should the closet become too messy to be in view. The door furniture throughout the apartment is from Opening Decorative Materials Supplier (206 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2519 9951). Styling Esther van Wijck