Inside a modern Mediterranean-inspired home that is the perfect antidote to hectic Hong Kong life
- Evocative of their trips abroad, a couple’s rustic-chic home in the city’s New Territories offers peace and tranquillity in an unexpected urban haven
- Both prefer an unpolished, weathered look to shiny slickness
“Speed is essential in war.”
That edict, by Sun Tzu, sets the tone for business at the Sha Tin trading company managed by Andy and Karen Kwan. The plaque bearing the sixth-century-BC Chinese general’s Art of War stratagem, however, did not faze the couple’s interior designer, Keith Chan Shing-hin, who often met his busy clients at their office (coincidentally next to his studio) to discuss plans for their new Tai Po home.
“Every evening I would see their car still in the garage when I was going home,” says Chan, founder of Hintegro. “I’m a designer so I work a lot, but they do longer hours than me.”
These days, however, the Kwans’ newly renovated, 2,100 sq ft, three-storey house helps them to enjoy life outside work. Few reminders of activity more strenuous than choosing a bottle of wine can be found in the two-bedroom dwelling, which recalls exotic locations: from the fern-fringed pond at the entrance, to rustic stone walls, intricate blue-and-white tiles and palm trees swaying beside a swimming pool, this is a joyful dwelling that recalls holidays at every turn.
Favourite trips abroad inspired many of the features the couple wanted around them.
“Andy likes the atmosphere of Morocco and southern Italy, and small details from Spain, Portugal [and Japan],” Chan says, recalling the photos his clients would ping him while away: the ancient cave town of Matera, in Italy’s Basilicata, inspired three feature walls; and a hotel in Hokkaido was behind the design of the bar, a lovely spot to perch while unwinding to the sounds of running water and birdsong.
“Andy sent me photos of a big table, by a fireplace, where everyone was drinking red wine, and said, ‘I want this,’” which led to the crazy-pavement-type benchtop Chan ended up designing for the bar. Despite the tiles creating an uneven surface – potentially hazardous for glassware – the couple were undeterred. Both prefer an unpolished, weathered look to shiny slickness.