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Adele Rosi

When an architect set about transforming his rented Kowloon Tong flat, the changes he envisaged had to be as easy to undo as they would be to make.

There is a bit of the nosy neighbour in all of us, but  more interesting than finding out what the people next door have in their homes is discovering  how an architect  furnishes his.

The main challenge for architect Ed Ng of AB Concept (tel: 2525 2428) was adapting his 1,400-square-foot rented flat in Kowloon Tong to suit his design taste without making any permanent changes.

'I had lots of ideas, but because it's a rented apartment I couldn't carry out major alterations, such as knocking down walls and creating false ceilings to accommodate the lighting I'd like,' explains Ng. 'I wanted to minimise the things we needed to reinstate if we ever left the apartment, so everything you see in the flat is portable.'

Ng's flat originally comprised two separate and adjacent one-bedroom units. He managed to rent  both, and convinced the landlord to allow him to incorporate the common corridor between the two to create a single flat.

The landlord agreed, so Ng constructed a type of plywood box (see Tried & Tested), complete with front door, which slotted into the area.

'It meant that I didn't have to go constantly in and out through two front doors to access certain rooms in the apartment - I'm not sure the neighbours would have liked seeing me in my pyjamas,' he says.

The living/dining room in one unit was converted into a master bedroom, and the adjoining bedroom into a huge walk-in wardrobe. The two rooms in the second unit  became separate areas for lounging and eating. One of the kitchens was devoted to storage, and the bathrooms were left untouched. 'It was a pity, because 'd love to have done a really beautiful bathroom, but I had to stick with what was

there,' says Ng.

Doors that the architect considered ugly were taken off their hinges and stored in  a warehouse.  In their place, Ng hung cream canvas curtains from Ikea, a cheap, space-saving way of  ensuring privacy when needed without shutting off the rest of the flat. A bay window, which Ng was unable to remove, was partly hidden by a custom-made stripped-oak unit housing a television and DVD player.

'It's a good solution to Hong Kong's speciality, the bay window,' says Ng. 'They're everywhere, but you don't always know what to do with them.'

Although he was given the option to move electric sockets at his own expense, he decided that floor-to-ceiling fluid curtains would cover  unsightly outlets and extension cords. Beech flooring throughout the flat  was covered with custom-made rugs with canvas borders.  These  can be  moved on with their owner, and  cut to size and re-bound if  the subsequent abode is smaller.

Although Ng has the advantage of being able to design and make his own furniture, most of his pieces came with him from his previous home.

'In most projects I do everything tends to coordinate, but in my own home it's more personal and I obviously do exactly what I like,' he says. 'I have some new pieces, but mostly it's a mixture of furniture I've collected over the years. I don't worry too much about exact matches.'

That said, everything seems to fit perfectly. Ng has gone for quality over quantity, with design classics such as a white leather Le Corbusier chair,  contemporary objects of desire (Ng and his partner have  steadily put together  a Bang & Olufsen audio-visual collection)  and several pieces of his own creation.

Although the revamp was completed in two weeks, the apartment took much longer to find owing to Ng's hankering for a  large private balcony, which was one of the main reasons for his eventual choice. It is the only one of its kind in the block. His 1,000-square-foot patio overlooks a communal swimming pool and the playing fields of La Salle College, which ensure relative privacy, fresh breezes and pleasant views. And with Ng's design expertise it has become the apartment's piece de resistance, complete with an entertaining area, sundeck, outdoor shower and an impressive whirlpool tub. 'The only way we could get it [the spa tub]  up here was by  pulling it up over the balcony railing via a cable running over the roof,' explains Ng. 'It's not  fixed,  so we could take it away if we ever moved, but it would be hard.'

Bougainvillea-covered trellises surrounding the patio, bamboo plants and palm trees offer lush privacy, while teak decking, outdoor uplights and pebbled borders transform the ordinary into something elegant and special.

'I seldom have to design  rented flats, so it was a challenge,'  says Ng. 'But I feel I've achieved something, and at the end of the day I look forward to coming home.'

1. Unusual seating is the focus of the living room. Suspended from the ceiling is a Perspex bubble chair with a silver cushion by Eero Aarnio (enquiries: Pacific Decor, suite 11G, Yip Cheung Centre, 10 Fung Yip Street, Chai Wan, tel: 2520 2122) adds a touch of Barbarella style. The room's retro-futuristic flavour is enforced by a modular sofa made by OVO (31 Wing Fung Street, Wan Chai; tel: 2526 7226) and covered in Quatrefoil 1954 fabric, designed by Alexander Girard, from Maharam ($571 a  yard from FabricNation, New Victory House, 93 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan, tel: 2180 8773; www.maharam.com). It comes in blocks of various sizes that can be moved around to create different formations (see  picture 2). A BeoSound 9000 CD player ($31,000 excluding speakers, from Bang & Olufsen, 2/F Pacific Place, Admiralty, tel: 2918 0007; www.bang-olufsen.com) brings the room into the 21st century. Two layers of blinds - one an opaque roller and the other a sheer Roman - were made by Nice Trading (tel: 2413 3119).

2.  Rather than cluttering the living room by adding a coffee table, Ng is testing a prototype oak board he designed that fits over the arm of the sofa. Another on the sofa back provides a stable surface for  a Baccarat lamp, designed by Andre Putnam, which Ng has had  for about 10 years. Above it, a recessed mirror shelf with an artificial suede inner frame ($6,200 from  OVO) shows Ng's collection of Christian Tortu vases from Paris.

3. Behind the bed from OVO ($14,000), a plywood panel has been covered with vinyl fabric by Maharam (about $200 a yard from FabricNation and attached to the wall with keyhole brackets. Ng also installed curtain tracking around the room, from which hang long sheer curtains from Zu Design (price according to fabric type and quantity; 21/F Kodak House, 39 Healthy Street Central, North Point, tel: 2561 7377) to hide ugly sockets, a computer port and extension cords. Although the position of the ceiling light remained the same, Ng installed a preferred style from Artemide (Ruttonjee Centre, 11 Duddell Street, Central, tel: 2523 0333; www.artemide.com). The BeoVision Avant television is by Bang & Olufsen ($41,500).

4. Making the dining room seem deceptively large is a floor-to-ceiling mirror next to the door, in which  Ng is reflected. The Fucsia  8 handmade glass suspension light by Achille Castiglioni ($10,710, from Flos, 50 Wellington Street, Central, tel: 2801 7007; www.flos.net), Perspex Eroisi chairs by Philippe Starck for Kartell (about $3,000 each; www.kartell.it; from William Artists, Leighton Road, Causeway Bay, tel: 2870 2277); and sculptural vase by Christian Tortu (bought in Paris) are examples of Ng's passion for design classics. A stripped green oak dining table ($10,500) and a custom-designed unit in the bay window (about $2,600; both from OVO)  complement the designer items.

5. One corner of the patio has been transformed into an outdoor spa with a HotSpring hot tub ($120,000 from H2O [Pro], 332 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2834 1661).   Privacy is ensured by overhead trellising while open views of a large communal pool below mean the bathing area isn't overlooked by another block. The teak decking looks seamless but was bought in tile-like panels  ($100 for each 50cm by 50cm panel from Resource Asia, 16F, Horizon Plaza, 2 Lee Wing Street, Ap Lei Chau, tel: 2554 9088); palm trees and pebbles from several garden centres help to disguise plain white flooring.

6. As well as  outdoor lamps, placed at intervals in the pebbled borders, 12 storm lanterns ($45 each from Ikea, upper basement, The Park Lane Hong Kong, 310 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay, tel: 3125 0888; www.ikea.com.hk ) light  the balcony at night. Hardwearing Dedon garden chairs from Germany look  like stylish rattan but are made from a synthetic material that won't rot in wet weather or dry out in the heat ($8,500 from Resource Asia). Potted plants cluster in wooden crate-style plant boxes (built by Ng) so everything can be changed in a few hours.

TRIED & TESTED

Deck the hall

Stamping your mark on rented accom-modation when the landlord requires the property to be in its original condition once the tenancy expires is a common problem the world over. Architect Ed Ng has cleverly changed the look of his apartment but ensured that every addition can be dismantled, packed up and moved on to his next abode. Combining two units into one without knocking down any walls, Ng 'borrowed' the common area between the two and transformed it into an entrance hall. He covered plywood panels with grey-blue laminate by Formica (tel: 2598 0117; www. formica-asia.net) and wool fabrics by Maharam (from FabricNation, New Victory House, 93 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan, tel: 2180 8773) and constructed a type of freestanding box complete with walls, ceiling and floor. It was built to the exact dimensions of the area with door spaces incorporated, then simply pushed into place without even a screwhole to mar the original walls. The doors were taken off their hinges and matching laminate and plywood ones installed in their place. Ng even managed to incorporate a freestanding shoe cabinet with a padded wool fabric exterior by Maharam (from FabricNation) in the same colour as the walls and a front door with hinges at the top and bottom. Ng also used a similar technique in the bedroom, installing vinyl-covered plywood panels (about $200 a yard, also from FabricNation) above the bed. 'Apart from asking the landlord if I could incorporate the common area between the two units, I didn't have to seek his permission for anything because nothing was touched,' he says.



Temporary classic