It's green for go as Belgravia gets state-of-the-art facelift

There's a quiet revolution on the domestic front in Island South - and it's just one of the ways in which the owner of Belgravia apartments hopes to clean up. Executives at Kerry Properties say the refurbished apartments in South Bay Road boast the first centralised vacuum-cleaning system of its type to be used in a residential building in Hong Kong.

Each of the 50 apartments also has a Swiss-made air purifier which adds to the clean, fresh atmosphere. The IQAir system can be seen as a nod to the complaints of many multinational company executives who say Hong Kong's poor air quality has deterred them from working in the territory. While the wheels of government legislation grind slowly towards cleaning up our air, some private developers seem to be addressing the situation on behalf of homebuyers and lease holders.

'When we refurbished the building, residents' health and a good environment were at the very core of our plans, so we provide good air quality as much as possible,' said Anders Lee, Kerry Properties' residential sales manager, who added that the IQAir system was also used by the Hospital Authority.

This drive towards a high-quality living environment extends to the centralised vacuum-cleaning system. Vacuum inlets in the living rooms, corridor and bedrooms are connected through hidden pipework to the central vacuum cleaner's filtering device stored in the utility area. The system ensures polluted air is passed to a filter bag before being discharged to a unit outside the building without contaminating the apartment.

'Fine particles can be just as bad as more visible dust. This way it's all brought out of the premises,' Mr Lee said. 'The cleaning is done using a simple-looking tube without the hassle of storing a vacuum cleaner and lumbering it from room to room.'

Extensive internal work has given the building, which overlooks Middle Bay with views of nearby Stanley, a 'contemporary luxury' feel. Many would see this as a welcome change from the classical European themes, replete with images of residents in ballgowns and horse-drawn carriages, that have graced the marketing of developments by Hong Kong's big players over recent years.