As the first owners of a Mid-Levels flat, one couple felt the need to wipe the slate clean and create a home that reflects their chic aesthetic.
Compromise means different things to different people. For Frank Yu Siu-fung, head of architectural and design firm Gravity Partnership (tel: 3106 8711), and his wife, Tara Lau Kit-wan, it meant accepting their ideal Hong Kong home was beyond their means. Their 'compromise' was a 2,100 sqft Mid-Levels apartment in a new building exposed to the north and south - a place that would be considered fabulous by most flat hunters.
As the first occupants of the flat, which boasts a view over the Happy Valley racecourse, the couple were presented with a pristine space that did not suit their tastes. 'It was so tacky,' says Yu. 'Very classical - lots of marble and heavy-looking materials.' To remedy this, they decided to rip almost everything out and create a home that reflected their style. With project management provided by Gravity Partnership's Joyce Cheng Yuk-fan, the home was transformed in four months.
Initially, the apartment had three bedrooms, four bathrooms and two exits. Yu sealed the rear exit and foyer, turning the space into a huge walk-in closet that melds into a master suite, which also features a master bathroom and a study with its own en suite bathroom.
The en suite guest room, down the hall from the master suite, was not structurally modified, nor was
the guest toilet off the corridor, although it was given a complete face lift. The kitchen, which had been concealed, was opened up and merged with the already fluid living and dining rooms.