European-style Hong Kong apartment has a view to die for and a local flavour

When bankers Yan and Janice Chia decided to renovate their newly purchased flat in Mid-Levels at the start of last year, they didn’t think twice about hiring designer Andrew Bell. Having worked together on a project in 2011, they knew their styles were compatible.

“Janice was familiar with my style, so she mostly left [the design of her new apartment] up to me,” says Bell.

“Most of our discussions were about the realignment of rooms rather than design features.”

The couple’s main request was to reorient the layout of the 2,100 sq ft apartment to take full advantage of the green mountain views at the back. To capitalise on these vistas, Bell demolished every possible internal wall, then moved the living areas to the back of the property and relegated the three bedrooms to the front, which overlooks an urban landscape.

Janice also wanted to split the sleeping quarters – the master suite, the bedrooms of her two sons, three-year-old Ollie and Nattie, one, and her helper’s area – into three almost self-contained units, which could be closed off from the rest of the home for privacy. To retain the illusion of open space, however, Bell introduced rippled glass doors, to allow in more light. Sealing strips and 12mm-thick panes provided soundproofing.

“Janice recently hosted her close friend, model Rosemary Vandenbroucke’s, hen night, and she shut Yan and their two sons away for the night in the boys’ quarters,” says Bell. “Apparently neither party was bothered by the other – and I suspect that one of the parties was fairly loud.”