A true family home in the truest sense of the word, this high-rise building in Mid-Levels West has served the multi-generational Chan/Tong household for more than two decades.
Since its purchase in 2002, the 160 sqm apartment has comfortably accommodated two parents, a grandparent, two children and a domestic helper in several phases. Now only Lily Tong, her husband Leo Chan, their daughter Janice and Biggie, the French bulldog, live there. In mid-2022, it was time for a first major renovation.
When the designers realized their clients were “open to bold suggestions,” they got to work, Chen says.
With only two bedrooms required, the layout provided scope for a generous reconfiguration of the original four bedrooms and three family bathrooms, plus a servants’ room with a fourth bathroom. However, before this could happen, an odd triangular corner of the living room – which was problematic for furniture placement – needed to be sorted out. One solution was to reorient the offending wall to create a more useful rectangular living room, allowing the hollowed-out corner to become a storage room accessed from the rear.
In a lighting scheme that combines the subtle and the striking, LED troughs concealed in the ceiling surface provide illumination that illuminates a handcrafted chandelier by Gabriel Scott that hangs low over the dining table.
The kitchen is Lily’s domain. Although she works, Lily enjoys housework – a trait she attributes to her childhood in the orderly domestic environment of Japan, where she was born and to which she still has a connection.
“I like to cook, so my main wish was a kitchen with a system,” she says. “And since our housekeeper retired, we converted her room into a laundry room, where I also like to spend time.”
Their new kitchen from Japanese brand Takara Standard offers work triangle efficiency, defined storage compartments and integrated design. A wine refrigerator was also installed in the new laundry room.
By making use of other rooms now no longer needed, the two remaining bedrooms are larger and better, each with a large bathroom tailored to the users’ personal tastes.
Lily has the dressing room she wanted, while Janice enjoys the privacy that comes with being an adult roommate.
In contrast to the old-fashioned decor of the past, the designer’s signature is evident in the sophisticated use of colors and structures, in hidden doors and characteristic accents.
Lily appreciates the “very good advice” of her designers, especially for the dining area.
foyer
Living room
Dining area
Daughter’s bathroom
Master bedroom
To allow her parents to occasionally work from home, Hoo furnished her bedroom with a white Calacatta marble desk that extends to a display shelf by the window. The Carl Hansen Wishbone chair is from Out of Stock.
Accent wall in the master bedroom
Lily’s dressing room
By remodeling one of the guest bedrooms, Lily was able to have the dressing room she wanted. Her clothes are stored behind frosted glass doors with ebony veneer trim and accessories are stored in the dressing table drawers. A Lee Broom Orion fluorescent light from Archetypal hangs above the island.
Tried and tested
An angled corner of the dining area inspired Hoo design team YC Chen and Keene Lam to create a cozy dining nook by slightly altering the wall. Choosing a table with a center leg instead of legs in four corners allows easy access and comfortable legroom for guests seated on the bench.
