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A Pinterest-driven Hong Kong micro-apartment with full-sized tub, roomy shower, built-in oven? Design duo make it a reality

  • A 322 sq ft (29.9 square metre) Hong Kong apartment was remodelled to make the most of its living space and give it all the trappings of a more capacious home
  • The one-bedroom property has a full-sized bathtub, spacious shower, three-seater sofa and queen-sized bed – and a separate toilet

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The owner of a Hong Kong micro-apartment wanted all the trappings of a bigger home – including a tub and a built-in oven. A young design duo helped make it happen. Photo: Craft of Both

Maximising the space in micro-apartments often means choosing one or more of the following approaches: creating multifunctional furniture; employing technology to shape-shift layouts; installing a mezzanine level, ceiling height permitting.

Or, as a despairing Hong Kong homeowner once pointed out to me from a window of his dinky digs, using a van parked outside as a wardrobe.

Former property agent Alice Zhang’s net 322 sq ft (29.9 square metre), one-bedroom flat in Sai Ying Pun on Hong Kong Island relies on none of the above for extra elbow room. But still it accommodates a full-sized bath, spacious shower, three-seater sofa and queen-sized bed.

She even has a built-in oven, as well as a tall fridge that has not been relegated to the living room – the appliance’s default location in many space-deprived Hong Kong units.

Natural light helps keep claustrophobia at bay in Alice Zhang’s one-bedroom flat in Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong. Photo: Craft of Both
Natural light helps keep claustrophobia at bay in Alice Zhang’s one-bedroom flat in Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong. Photo: Craft of Both

“I wanted to do a lot more cooking and I wanted a kitchen that was easy to use,” says the thirty-something Chinese-Australian, who also requested room for potted plants, a dedicated niche for a waste bin and a perch for meals.

Her trick for making room? Employing two designers who devised a clever floor plan incorporating flexible partitions and well-considered storage. Natural light also helped keep claustrophobia at bay: in the flat’s original iteration, two bedrooms blocked much of the sun’s rays.

Charmaine Chan has worked as a journalist in Australia, Japan and Hong Kong. She became the South China Morning Post's Design Editor in 2005, having been its Literary, Deputy Features and Behind The News editor. She covers architecture and interior design, and oversees the books pages. Charmaine is the author of Courtyard Living: Contemporary Houses of the Asia-Pacific (Thames & Hudson).
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