For many first-time property buyers, getting hands-on with renovations is a rite of passage. Not so for Sabrina Lu. The banker, who had found an ideal flat-for-one in Central, wanted a designer with strong ideas and the knowhow to do most of the legwork. She looked no further than her friend Anderson Lee of Index Architecture.
'Going down to Wan Chai 20 times a month and dealing with contractors is just not for me,' Lu says. 'I had the advantage of having a trusted designer to filter out all the trouble.'
After planning straightforward adjustments to the diamond-shaped, 775 sq ft apartment - such as convert- ing two bedrooms into one and increasing counter space in the open kitchen - Lee saw room within the brief for more creative elements.
'There was a degree of freedom from formality and logistical concerns designing for [Lu], a bachelorette with her own 'playground'. She was willing to take on special design features,' Lee says. 'If I had proposed a 'see-through' bathroom for a couple with young kids it might not have gone down well.'
Lu liked the idea of contrasting the pale, homely feel of her main living space with something edgier. The result is a floor-to-ceiling, two-way-mirror wall that separates the bathroom from the kitchen and dining area. Three half-silvered glass panels create a mirror effect on the outside while, from inside the bathroom, one can see through the glass into the living-dining room. To enhance the reflectivity of the bathroom's exterior, Lee lined the top of the glass panels with LED lights, which offer greater privacy when switched on.
'Without the LEDs at night, you can start to see the outlines of things inside the bathroom,' Lee says. 'Another trick is to keep the lights low or off inside when there is enough natural light from the living- room windows.'
