After a long, hard day at the office, nothing beats the tranquillity of one comfortable, open bachelorette pad in Wan Chai. When working hours are long and business travel takes up more than 50 per cent of your time, it's vital that your home ticks all the right boxes when it comes to convenience and comfort. Busy professional Bonnie Leung chose to roost in increasingly gentrified Wan Chai, just a stone's throw from Pacific Place and her office. Having lived in the apartment for some time, she decided it needed a makeover and called on architect Anderson Lee of Index Architecture to turn the 1,000 sq ft space into a bachelorette suite. The original - and rather boring - standard three-bedroom layout was not working for Leung, so the first thing Lee did was to knock down as many internal walls as he could, enlarging Leung's master bedroom and bathroom, and creating an open kitchen, dining and living zone. He also devised a flexible study area with moving panels in place of doors and a bed that drops down from the wall. 'The original layout was aimed at a family but as a single professional woman, Bonnie had no need for that kind of formality,' says Lee. The space now is much more fluid, with interlocking panels used to change its configurations. To one side of the foyer is the open kitchen, with black acrylic and stainless-steel cabinetry that wraps around into the dining area, giving a sense of continuity. The dining and living area is an open rectangular space, with a corridor leading off at 90 degrees. Leung's study and a walk-in wardrobe are to one side of the corridor; to the other is a wall of wooden panelling that conceals storage units and bathroom doors. At the end of the corridor is the master bedroom, with another sliding door that can be closed off for privacy. At first glance, the cabinetry seems to comprise different sized interlocking rectangles. But there is more to the design than meets the eye. 'These dimensions are not arbitrary,' says Lee, pointing out that some of the grooves are real - revealing doors or cabinets - and some are fake. 'These proportions are based on certain sets of numbers that develop the dividing lines so aesthetically they please the eye.' This concept is known as the 'golden ratio' and has been used by artists and architects since the time of the Ancient Greeks. When the ratio of the longer side of a rectangle to the shorter side is approximately 1:1.6 it is deemed to be most visually satisfying. Lee also applied the golden ratio concept to the large mirror wall in the dining area; carving up sand-blasted and clear glass panels accordingly. For decorative effect, he etched onto the glass a line drawing of the apartment, which shows the flat's layout and the way the wooden panelling runs throughout. 'The drawing tells the story of the wall, the linking element in the entire apartment,' says Lee. 'Originally we wanted to enliven the mirror but a generic pattern, either flowery or art nouveau, would not have worked with the feel of the space. So I decided to go with a similar proportional system and actually etch the concept of the apartment onto the glass.' Although designed for a single woman, the space is predominantly gender neutral. Simple white paintwork, walnut flooring, earthy green and orange soft furnishings and a spa-like master bathroom temper black back-painted glass, beech wood panelling and stainless-steel shelving. The look is no fuss, no nonsense and very soothing. Leung now has a bolt-hole in which to refresh and recharge at the end of a long working week. 1 The living room benefits from lots of light and green hillside views. The green L-shaped sofa was designed by Index Architecture (19/F, Yen Yee Commercial Building, 322 Des Voeux Road West, Sheung Wan, tel: 2155 1007) for HK$20,000. The semi-sheer curtains were made by Take Art (1803 Keen Hung Commercial Building, 80 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, tel: 2332 5792). The Finnish plywood coffee table (HK$15,000) was custom designed by Index Architecture. The wall lights (HK$3,300 each) came from Elements (1/F, 28 Russell Street, Causeway Bay, tel: 2295 0777). 2 The bedroom is calm and serene and the lack of decoration allows the mountain views to become the focal point. Anderson Lee of Index Architecture custom designed the timber bed (HK$15,000), which has a white spray paint finish. The headboard has been designed as part of the wall, dividing the bed and the window behind but still allowing access to the bay window. 3 The white study is enlivened with a bold orange Smile swivel chair (HK$2,200) from Aluminium (shop D, 8 Kingston Street, Causeway Bay, tel: 2577 4766; www.hk-aluminium.com ). The timber bookshelves and cabinetry, sprayed with white paint, conceal a pull-down bed on the left. The cupboards have been designed using the golden ratio. 4 Lee etched a plan of the apartment onto the glass wall in the dining area. It works both as a decorative feature and as a fun way to tell the story of the apartment's design. The Nur Mini Alogena suspension lamp cost HK$4,000 from Artemide (shop 111, Ruttonjee Centre, 11 Duddell Street, Central, tel: 2523 0333). 5 The corridor is lined with a row of beech wood cabinets (HK$1,700 a square metre), designed with panels sized to the golden ratio. The cabinets conceal doors to the master bathroom and the guest bathroom as well as to storage cupboards. The floor is covered with Boen American Walnut, which cost HK$1,000 a square metre from Equal (7/F, Grandview Commercial Centre, 29 Sugar Street, Causeway Bay, tel: 2881 7066). In the master bedroom, the Tulip chair (HK$4,650) by Eero Saarinen is from Tint Living (3 Blue Pool Road, Happy Valley, tel: 3104 3105; www.tintliving.com ). 6 The master bathroom, with a white marble floor and countertop, was extended to provide room for a bath at one end and a spacious shower unit at the other (not pictured). The Duravit bathtub by Philippe Starck cost HK$9,200 from Professional Depot (371 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, tel: 3106 6008) and the Vitra triangular sink was HK$4,500 from Arnhold Design Centres (315 Lockhart Road, tel: 2865 0318; www.arnhold.com.hk ). The 300mm by 600mm white wall tiles (HK$180 a square foot) are from In Plus (183 Lockhart Road, tel: 2479 9390). 7 To make the most of the limited space, Lee designed a Finnish plywood dining table (HK$25,000) that slots neatly under the stainless-steel countertop. The dining table can be pulled out to seat eight. The Folia chairs (HK$3,500 each) were ordered from Billiani (Via della Roggia 28, Manzano Udine, Italy, tel: 39 0432 740180; www.billiani.it ). The wall to the right of the dining table is covered with a combination of sand-blasted and clear glass. The Nur Mini Alogena suspension lamp cost HK$4,000 from Artemide. 8 The open kitchen features bold black acrylic cabinetry from Eura Cucina (802, Federal Building, 369 Lockhart Road, tel: 3690 2382). The countertops are made of stainless steel and wrap around into the dining area. The flooring, which extends into the dining and living areas, is self-levelling. Tried + tested Show time The sleek, black back-painted glass television unit (HK$15,000), custom designed by Index Architecture (19/F, Yen Yee Commercial Building, 322 Des Voeux Road West, Sheung Wan, tel: 2155 1007), is a statement piece and practical too. The Samsung LCD TV from AV Life (shop 2002, IFC Mall, Central, tel: 2295 3398; www. plasmatv.com.hk) slots seamlessly into the unit for easy viewing from the sofa. Alternatively, it can be extended outwards on a Vogel LCD wall support arm (HK$9,000; from AV Life, shop 35, Langham Place, Mong Kok, tel: 2779 2288) to allow viewing from the dining room. The base of the unit provides storage space for audio-visual equipment and shelves on the side house DVDs. The BeoLab 8000 speakers are from Bang & Olufsen (Tak Shing House, 20 Des Voeux Road, Central, tel: 2526 8800). Styling Esther van Wijck