Stunning 2,400 sq ft Hong Kong duplex has views that stop you in your tracks
Three-bedroom, four-bathroom bachelor pad looks out on Tsing Ma Bridge and busy shipping channel, but step inside for a calming effect. With four-metre ceilings and white walls, it is flooded with natural light
Perched above a rocky shoreline overlooking the Tsing Ma Bridge carrying the expressway from the Kowloon Peninsula to Lantau Island and Hong Kong’s airport, this three-bedroom, four-bathroom bachelor pad has the sort of views that stop you in your tracks. With a busy shipping channel below and flight path overhead, there’s always something happening outside.
Despite all the action, the home, renovated last year by interior designer Pal Pang Yu-yan, is a serene space that makes he most of its stunning location, with generously sized windows and a large wrap-around deck.
Pang, of Another Design International, came to the new-build project last summer after the homeowner – a young Hong Kong entrepreneur – saw his work in a European magazine.
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“He liked the style of a few of the projects I had completed,” Pang says. “He is very busy and travels a lot, so didn’t have time to manage the project. I handled everything from start to finish.”
The modern, 2,400 sq ft apartment is spread over two levels, with a terrace and plunge pool to one side and a cantilevered balcony off the living room.
“This is a great house because the architecture is so contemporary,” says Pang. “The living area has four-metre ceilings and full-height glass windows that flood the space with natural light. After discussions, the client agreed to keep it simple, with a minimal design and well-chosen furniture.”
The layout of the house remained largely intact, with no alterations to the general floor plan, kitchen and bathrooms included. “This is an expensive house and the quality of workmanship is good. I didn’t want to change things just for the sake of it and waste my client’s money.”
Pang’s only structural alteration was to create a small recessed foyer leading to the ground-floor bedroom and bathroom, rather than have a door lead directly off the main living area.
The real change came in the decorative elements and the choice of furniture and fittings. With white walls and marble flooring throughout, Pang felt the house needed to be warmed and softened to make it a home. To this end, he used American walnut to clad the ceiling of the open-plan living and dining areas and a wall of storage cupboards. “When the space is lit in the evening, it is very warm and inviting,” he says.
The designer also created a three-dimensional feature wall using acoustic tiles, which both absorb sound and create a visually interesting element on the living room’s longest wall (see Tried + tested).
Once the six-month renovation was under way, Pang focused on finding furniture pieces in consultation with his client, who spends just a few days a month in Hong Kong. Since Pang has a practice in Britain as well as Hong Kong, he took advantage of Europe’s cheaper furniture pricesto choose designer pieces that should stand the test of time.
“It’s very important as a designer to select your projects carefully – select the wrong project, the wrong client, and you are in trouble. My client understood what I wanted to do, but admitted he couldn’t always visualise it at the design stage. When it was all finished, he was delighted and said it exceeded his expectations. It is not a very decorative design – it’s more about balance in the space and key features,” Pang says.
“It’s a simple design that is easy for my busy client to maintain. It’s not a show home.”
Styling: David Roden
Sound and vision With a wall of windows on one side of the main living and dining space, a bank of cabinets on another, and a glass door leading to the terrace on a third, designer Pal Pang Yu-yan (another-design.com) had only one blank wall to play with. While the client floated the idea of installing a projection screen, Pang persuaded him to try something more adventurous. He covered the wall in three-dimensional acoustic tiles that not only improve sound absorption, but also provide a visually arresting feature. The Bella Soundwave acoustic panels cost €130 each from Offecct (www.offecct.se).
