How to make the most of a curved interior – life in a semicircular home

“The floor plan is basically two arcs: the outer, or main, arc contains all the rooms while the inner one comprises the corridor, children’s and guest bathrooms and cup­boards,” says Kinugasa-Tsui. “It was an interesting project but it was a challenge to design. You can make grand plans but at the end of the day a home has to be practical, especially when you have young children.”

Although Brandon could see the flat’s potential, he disliked its original layout. The main bedroom was positioned near the front door and had the best views over the harbour while the kitchen was squashed into a small space at the far end.

“For me, a living area with an open kitchen is the heart of a home. Krista loves to cook and it’s where we spend most of our time, with our children or entertaining friends,” says Brandon, a banker. “When we bought the apartment, the master bedroom received most of the natural light while the rest of the property was darker and dimmer, which didn’t make any sense.”

Kinugasa-Tsui and Bean Buro co-founder Lorène Faure knocked down the partition walls dividing the rooms in the outer arc and swapped the positions of the kitchen and main bedroom. They created a sociable, open-plan kitchen, dining and living space, leading onto the children’s rooms via a mirrored sliding door, and a main bedroom and bathroom. The Laus initially thought the flat’s circular form would make it less efficient but the opposite is true, particularly where the children’s space is concerned. Another sliding door between the youngsters’ bedrooms can be opened to create one big play area – or, as Ben has just dis­covered, an exciting circuit around which to run.