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From micro home to efficient apartment: how poky Hong Kong flat was transformed by a French architect

An architect has transformed a 300 sq ft dark and cluttered flat in Kennedy Town into a chic, light-filled home

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Flat designed by Damienne Joly. Styling: David Roden. Photography: John Butlin. Photography assistant: Timothy Tsang

Good things, it is said, come in small packages, and Frenchwoman Noemie Bernard’s 300 sq ft flat in Kennedy Town is a case in point. The space doesn’t feel cramped, but it hasn’t always been this way.

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When Bernard first viewed the flat, it was dark and cluttered, with two tiny bedrooms at the front and a pokey living area and kitchen at the back. However, its location and potential appealed to Bernard, who was looking for a buy-to-let property.

She bought the flat last July and was subsequently introduced to French architect Damienne Joly, of Atelierd&l.

Joly gutted the apartmentand came up with a layout that optimised space and light while accommodating all mod cons.

It is one of those apartments where each centimetre counts and what you do in one area has a knock-on effect everywhere else
Damienne Joly, interior designer

“The apartment is situated on a lovely little street – very peaceful and quiet even though it is in the city – and I wanted its interior to echo that,” Joly says. “As it’s in an older walk-up building, it has nice ceiling heights, which help to give it a sense of space and make it feel airy.”

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