This Hong Kong flat is 410 sq ft and home to four, but you wouldn’t know it

Redesigning a 410 sq ft flat to accommodate four people comfortably is a challenge. Making it look clean and spacious raises the bar even higher.

That’s why storage, storage, storage constituted the brief received by architecture studio Absence from Island’s Tang Chi-chun. “The clients were craving flexible layouts and ample amounts of storage space,” he says.

The owners of the Tseung Kwan O flat, bought last year, also had particular needs. In his role at an advertising agency, Martin So Chi-yuen occasionally brings work home, while Vivian Tsang Ka-wai, a flight attendant, has four suitcases in her work kit alone. Baby Magnus, now one year old, was on the way when the renovation began, and a helper was to live there, too.

An early decision Tang made was that every item of furniture would be built in. Loose pieces would take up too much space, he reasoned, and wouldn’t allow for the drawers, cupboards and other storage hidey-holes he planned to tuck into every nook and cranny.

The materials palette was also important. The owners had specified calm­ing, neutral hues and natural elements, but no house plants. Tang’s solution was to design with rattan, a natural material once commonly used in Hong Kong interiors that is now enjoying a resurgence. Sourced from Guangdong, the rattan was teamed with terrazzo and wood for their complementary textures.

“I remember sitting on the rattan sofa we had in my childhood home, and how it felt cooler, and less oppressive [than heavier furniture],” he recalls.

In this case, rattan furniture wasn’t a suitable choice, so the designer had his contractors craft rattan into wall panelling and feature doors on cupboards, a theme used throughout the home.

“The contractor told me he hadn’t worked with rattan for a long time, but because he’d had many years of experience, he knew what to do,” says Tang.