Ageing in place: a sprawling Hong Kong home redesigned for an elderly parent

Before Clifton Leung’s father passed away last year, he expressed the wish that his wife could continue living in the town house in Stanley they had shared for almost three decades.

Not renovated in decades, the tall, skinny building was due for a refit, and as the only designer among him and his two sisters, Leung, founder of Clifton Leung Design Workshop, naturally took on the task of remodelling the family home into an age-appropriate retirement space for his 84-year-old mother, Mabel.

Not only would the 3,000 sq ft building, split over eight levels, accommodate her current and future needs, its three bedrooms and four bathrooms would also continue to accommodate visiting children and grandchildren.

“With so many memories in that home, it was important to keep the connection going,” says Leung, who had lived there for seven years, before his marriage in 2008, while his older sisters put down roots in Canada.

Amid their bereavement, Leung says he realised the necessary alterations presented “an opportunity to blend family heritage with contemporary design principles”. His father, Chung, was an automotive pioneer, founding one of the first companies in Hong Kong specialising in European car parts, while his mother was a stay-at-home parent with many creative pursuits, among them Chinese painting, calligraphy and sewing.

In rectifying ageing infrastructure, including dodgy wiring and leaky windows, Leung took a 21st century approach. Automated smart lighting did away with the myriad exposed light switches, and more windows that opened were installed to allow natural ventilation.

Solid walls that once made the floor plan feel disconnected were eliminated or replaced with textured glass in a mixture of sliding and fixed panels. To help ease everyday chores in a home with so many levels, Leung converted a light well into a laundry chute running from top to bottom.