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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.

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