Doing the rounds

Few property owners would want a designer to cut corners while refurbishing their flat, but for one Mid-Levels apartment the results are perfect.

When semi-retired businesswoman Wendy Cheung decided to renovate her pied-a-terre in Mid-Levels, she had a clean, bright and simple apartment in mind. This vision was a categorical break from her cluttered home in Kowloon, which is filled with an array of traditional - and bulky - Chinese furniture.

Having hired designers on previous occasions, Cheung was familiar with the ups and downs of the process. Nor was she short of advice because her brother-in-law, who lives in the United States, works in the design field. Nonetheless, it was a relief when an expert was recommended. Cheung was referred to architectural design firm Building Design Studio (tel: 2581 9909) through a friend and warmed quickly to architect and co-director Sean Niem, who made her feel confident in his abilities. 'That encouraged me to give him a freer hand with the design,' she admits.

Consequently, Niem delivered an adventurously youthful and relaxed design. 'We spent the first few meetings just building a relationship,' says Niem, 'but it's by chance that the result is modern - it wasn't what Mrs Cheung expressed [a desire for].'

With an underlying brief in mind, Niem took a softly interventionist approach, rounding corners to create what he describes as an 'edgeless' backdrop. 'Instead of intersecting planes we smoothed off and rounded surfaces so that light could flow through the space.'

He discovered that the initial floor plan featured some curving walls, so it seemed logical to take this concept further. As a result, the new curvilinear forms appear to be derived from the original structure.

On the same theme, prominent architectural features such as arch-like walls were added in the living room and master bedroom. Backlit and punctured with embedded light fixtures, they provide intimacy and highlight the function of each area. 'They address the location, whether it's the bed or the audio-visual entertainment zone,' says Niem.

The 1,300-square-foot apartment, which overlooks the Botanical Gardens, has two bedrooms, one of which had to be of flexible use. Cheung wanted a guestroom-cum-study-cum-mahjong room but stipulated that those functions needed to be fulfilled independently of each other. She hosts weekly mahjong sessions and didn't want her guests to feel trapped in a corner of the spare room. Niem concealed a pull-down bed in one wall and disguised a desk as an extension of the windowsill. He employed this strategy throughout the apartment, refinishing windowsills so they stretched seamlessly into other horizontal surfaces.

True to the spirit of contemporary design, materials are kept to a minimum and colours, although sometimes dazzlingly bright, are confined to warm reds, oranges and yellows. 'We needed some contrast to strike a balance,' says Niem, referring to the otherwise strict white-on-white of the apartment's major elements. 'Although the fun factor is present, sophistication has certainly moved in.'

1 - 2. The living room's neutral L-shaped Lowland sofa by Moroso (www.moroso.it) came from Space Decor (now closed) for $35,000. It is enlivened by vibrant scatter cushions and sunny yellow floor-length Kvadrat curtains ($366 a metre by Maharam from FabricNation, Room 801, 93 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan, tel: 2180 8772; www.maharam.com). Niem chose a custom-made clear glass coffee table ($7,500 from Building Design Studio, tel: 2581 9909) that would not detract from the openness of the space. The Fontana-Neo floor lamp adds another nuance of colour to the neutral shades ($4,000 from PLC, 3/F, 369 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2519 6275).

3. A channel-hopping Wendy Cheung stands in front of a long, low, audio-visual cabinet in gloss white by Acerbis ($54,000 from Le Cadre, 11 Duddell Street, Central, tel: 2526 1068). A canopy of painted gypsum board on the back wall and ceiling of the living room hides cables and light fittings, and enhances the overall effect of fluidity in the apartment.

4. An obstructive structural column dividing the living area is incorporated into a custom-designed sideboard, which provides useful storage, including a concealed built-in fridge. It is built to the same height as the windowsill so the two become a continuous surface, and is finished in Dawn Mist Surell solid surfacing material (sourced through Ken Kee Interior Contracting; call Philip Ng on 9450 0800). Two glass shelves wrap around the upper end of the column creating display space.

5. The dining and living areas look into each other without being completely open plan. The glass dining table was custom-designed by Building Design Studio ($10,800); the Kristalia satin-finish chrome dining chairs are from Desideri ($2,390 from 6/F, Tak House, 6 Stanley Street, Central, tel: 2950 4026; www.desideri.com.hk). The Itre-Class ceiling pendant light costs $2,700 from PLC. Further delineating the space is a white artificial granite floor (sourced and installed by Ken Kee Interior Contracting).

6. Echoing the curves in the rest of the apartment, a recessed mirror in the hallway has rounded corners and a curved glass. The Hohns 15-millimetre Polar Ash Longstrip timber flooring (about $45 a square foot from Equal Limited, 12/F First Commercial Building, 33 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay, tel: 2881 7066) was chosen by Niem because it is engineered not to warp - unlike timber veneer floors.

7. In the master bedroom, Niem custom-designed the beech timber veneer bed with integrated 'floating' bedside tables and fitted it with a faux leather headboard (sourced by Ken Kee Interior Contracting to soften it. The egg-shaped white Tato stool designed by Denis Santachiara is from Baleri Italia (www.baleri-italia.com; it was purchased for $2,000 from Space Decor. The roman blinds were made by curtain contractor Phoenix Curtains (tel: 2866 6691), which also sourced the fabric (model E65-198-12; about $200 a metre).

8. Niem wanted to make the small master bathroom appear bigger so he chose transparent and reflective materials. He also felt that white, commonly used to open up a room, was too institutional. The glass wall-mounted basin and integrated counter were custom-made by Ken Kee Interior Contracting to Building Design Studio's specifications and cost about $6,000. The Vola washbasin mixer (model HV3L-16 single chrome handle with fixed spout, $5,100) was sourced from Portfolio Group (59 Elgin Street, Central, tel: 2868 0621). Walls and cupboards are clad in multi-layered, semi-reflective laminated mirror glass sandwiched with a Japanese textured paper (from Glass Brain in Tsuen Wan, tel: 2413 7789).

TRIED & TESTED

Cosmetic exercise

To avoid cosmetics cluttering Wendy Cheung's bathroom, Building Design Studio created a built-in vanity unit (115cm long x 50cm wide x 15cm deep from the top edge to the bottom), taking advantage of the light from the window next to her bed. It was built to the architect's specifications by Ken Kee Interior Contracting. Like elsewhere in the apartment, the furniture is an extension of the windowsill. The plywood box is fixed to the wall with brackets and the hinged lid is inset with 'Hermes-brown' artificial leather (sourced through the contractor), which matches the bed's headboard. The lid lifts to reveal a mirror on its inner side while the unit itself is divided into compartments so Cheung's make-up stays organised.

PICTURES John Butlin

STYLING Esther van Wijck