When buying his first apartment, one man chose to start with a clean slate in an older flat rather than a cookie-cutter new development.
Creating a home from scratch was a new experience for doctor Robert Speke when he moved into his Mid-Levels apartment last August. Having shared a succession of rented flats for seven years, his decision to buy was a huge leap. 'I was living like a student, taking over what someone else had left behind and trying to adapt it,' he says.
He eventually settled on a 1,400-square-foot flat with contrasting city and mountain views at the front and back, and regular-shaped external walls. 'I quickly realised the structure of new buildings strongly dictated how [each room in] the flat would be used,' he says, expressing a preference for more flexible older buildings with high ceilings.
The apartment also fulfilled another must-have. 'I definitely wanted a balcony, and in a lot of places it's nothing more than a glorified shelf jutting out into the air,' he says. 'Here, it's enclosed and feels quite private, but is very much part of the living space. I can sit there without all the neighbours looking at me.'
Speke accepted that whichever property he bought would require gutting. 'Most places are built for families, with lots of small rooms, and that wasn't what I was after,' he says.