How a 480 sq ft Hong Kong flat became a trendy urban home
Redesign gets rid of small, poky rooms to create a light-filled high-rise apartment with extra storage space, a modern kitchen, and plenty of room for investment banker owner and his two dogs to relax, writes Charmaine Chan
It's not often you hear of a satisfactory home renovation completed ahead of time. Rarer still that the client remembers the process as having been "enjoyable".
But Chan Fong-wai says that is true of the revamp this year of his 480 sq ft, light-filled Mid-Levels apartment.
"I enjoyed looking at the changes week to week," he says, recalling the Friday night inspections during which he witnessed the cramped, 15-year-old flat morph into a contemporary home with spacious living areas and stylish features.
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The flat, which he'd bought last year, had been a "typical Hong Kong-style" home, albeit with extraordinary skyscraper vistas broken up by slivers of the sea. Previously inhabited by two siblings, it had contained two small bedrooms and a closed kitchen, a layout that Chan wanted changed to accommodate himself and his "flatmates". Apart from his partner, who visits several times a week, he shares the now one-bedroom, one-bathroom property with his two dogs: a husky named Snowball and a black mongrel called Pepper.
It was partly because of these pets that Chan and Nirender Lehar, of Leehar Home, chose a durable Formica floor. The same laminate is used for the cabinetry in the open kitchen, which is equipped with a wine fridge, oven and full-sized fridge. Beneath the sink, which boasts a fashionable black gooseneck tap, lives a washing machine.
It is into the kitchen area that the front door opens, revealing a layout that wastes little space. Directly in front of the U-shaped counter is an unfurnished spot designed originally for a dining table but now housing only a banquette built over a bay window.
