How a Hong Kong apartment went from show flat to home
The show flat of a new Mid-Levels tower block had the glitz toned down and the elegance dialled up to create a sophisticated home for its Japanese owner
When the Japanese client of Adrian Wu and Stephanie Wong, partners at SW Design, purchased his 1,305 sq ft apartment, it was the last one available in the Mid-Levels complex. Situated on one of the tower’s highest floors, the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home offered exceptional views of Victoria Harbour and the cityscape beyond, as well as ticking other boxes such as location and space. However, it was also the developer’s show flat, so he had to buy the property along with all of its contents.
He could simply have moved in with his belongings, but he felt the interior was too decorative for his tastes. So he enlisted the help of the husband-and-wife architectural team, who had worked on a project for a friend of his.
“Our brief was straightforward: our client wanted to make strategic changes so the apartment would fit his sense of aesthetics and functional needs,” says Wu. “He likes a very clean, minimal look without clutter, so most of the show-flat shelving, fabric panelling and furniture had to go.”
WATCH: Mid-Levels home designed by SW Design
Wu and Wong were given considerable freedom and the homeowner was open to their creative proposals, most of which he agreed with. They were not required to knock down any walls, nor was there any need to change the kitchen. Instead, they replaced the bamboo flooring with oak, stripped all the wallpaper, and added new lighting.