Hong Kong is famous for its cramped living space and its concrete jungle. Our client is no different to any ordinary HongKongers. He purchased a 40 sqm flat and wished to turn it into a home for his family of three. The design aims to keep the living room large and plain while bringing in natural elements to create a relaxed and calm environment. However, the client is not willing to take care of any living plants and therefore we chose rattan, which is a famous product in nearby Guangdong, as the key material for the living room. They are used on cupboard doors where their porosity and light colour help soften the cupboard’s existence. The outcome is simple, airy and comfortable. When purchased, the flat had a typical Hong Kong apartment layout of 5 doors facing the small living room which resulted in a lack of wall space. So during the design phrase, we decided to shift the bathroom door towards the kitchen door, hence to provide a bigger piece of wall for the TV. It was a simple move but it greatly improved the layout as shown on the original and proposed plans. Another common solution to tiny flats in Hong Kong is to turn your home into a crazy transformer. However, in reality you would not be changing your home setting often and indeed it is tiring to do so. Therefore we keep the transformative feature only to the single most obstructive group of items in the living room - dining table and chairs. They are tucked inside a cupboard and are only pulled out when being used. This shall help create one big space for the child to play around. Storage was one of the major concerns of the client. During the design phrase, the client kept asking for more storage space. The entire child's room is raised and void below becomes the storage space. And in order to keep a neat interior of the child's room, steps are placed outside into the living room and double up as additional seating. There is also a set of large cupboards in the living room next to the entrance door. They, at the same time, help create a portal for the main entrance which makes the perfect space for one to wear shoes and check his/her outfit being heading out. We originally thought the client was asking for too much storage space, but in the end, when they moved in, all storage space was taken up!
Rattan in Concrete Jungle
Absence from Island
Silver
Gold

1 / 10

Howard Duffy
Founder
at HTDSTUDIO Arkitekter AB
Nice neat little jewel of a solutio...
6
7
7
7
6.75

Sam McMorran
Strategy and Design Director
at IDEO
Charming little apartment that demo...
6
8
8
6
7

Lauren Touhey-Otto
Head of Design
at Kinzo Architekten GmbH
Beautiful space. The pallet is very...
8
10
9
9
9

Bhavin Taylor
Founder / Interior Designer
at Bhavin Taylor Design
Amazing space that is well designed...
7
8
8
8
7.75

Mark Anderson
Architect
at Mark Anderson Design
Honest and intelligent project. Wel...
8
9
7
7
7.75

Tracey Wiles
Principal
at woods bagot
Refined materials selection with co...
6
9
7
6
7

Nic Lee
Design Director
at Waterfrom Design Co., Ltd
7
7
7
5
6.5

Vivian van Schagen
Founder
at The Invisible Party
7
7
7
7
7

Puri Lighting Design
Design Director
at Beijing Puri Lighting Design
7
6
8
6
6.75

Hana Ahriz
Co-founder
at Space & Pepper
When having a city like Hong Kong w...
7
8
8
6
7.25

Franziska Heuschkel
Founder
at Space & Pepper
A beautiful example of a user needs...
7
9
8
8
8

Agnes Kwek
Design Ambassador
at DesignSingapore Council
5
6
6
5
5.5

John Allsopp
Architect
at John Allsopp Studio
7
7
7
5
6.5

Tina Norden
Partner
at Conran and Partners
Considered, beautifully executed -...
8.26
8.62
8.11
7.42
8.1

Leni Popovici
Founding Director and Partner
at KAP Studios
This feels like a beautifully bespo...
8.55
10
9.03
8.71
9.07

Valérie Boerma
Founder
at Barde vanVoltt
Great design starts with a strong w...
8.5
9.04
9
9.01
8.89

Serhii Makhno
Founder
at Sergey Makhno Architects
6.77
7.77
7.46
7.74
7.44

Valerie Roosma
Interior Designer
at -
Beautiful use of materials, spatial...
8.17
8.17
8.67
6.54
7.89
Location
Designer
Client
Mr. & Mrs. So
Floor area
40 ㎡
Completion
2020
Design Director
Tang Chi Chun
Collaborator
Photographer
Ireen Sit