How to bring wellness into the home – a Hong Kong family’s sanctuary brings health and happiness

Wellness isn’t just about the body. It is about the mind and spirit, too. And one major factor in our physical and emotional states is our living environment. Few understand that better than Rowena Gonzales, of Liquid Interiors. An advocate of healthy, eco-conscious interior design, she recently trans­formed Dora Pak’s Sai Kung home into a contemporary haven that has the family’s well-being at its core.

“Architects and doctors got together to create the Well Building Standard [in 2014], a performance-based system whose mission is to improve human health and well-being through the built environment. We design and build private homes with features based on this standard,” says Gonzales, an accredited Well Building professional. “We consider every aspect of our clients’ health and well-being as well as trying to promote an environmentally conscious, zero-waste lifestyle.”

Pak, her husband and their eight-year-old son moved from Pok Fu Lam to the New Territories after cold-calling an estate agent to ask if there were any houses for sale in a particular development they liked. A two-storey, 1,800 sq ft property, with rooftop access, had coincidentally just come onto the market and, before long, the Paks were on the hunt for a designer to help them remodel their new home.

“Houses in this complex don’t often come up for sale but I believe in destiny – this house was meant to be ours,” says Pak. “I wanted a design that embraced nature and supported our health and well-being but went beyond simply being peaceful.”

The original four bedrooms, on the first floor, were reduced to two, plus a study. Extra space was given to a roomy walk-in wardrobe and an enlarged bathroom in the main suite.