HongKong is famous for its cramped living space and our client is no different to any
other ordinary Hong Kongers and he bought this flat of 40 square meter
and he wants to turn it into a flat for family of three
there's the client his wife and baby Manus who was on the way during the renovation he wants
to have a lot of flexible layouts and a lot of storage space and also safe for the baby
Tseung Kwan O is one of the nine new towns built in Hong Kong in the 90s
and it's built on a bunch of reclaimed land
there are lots of residential towers built on shopping mall
this can represent a typical like hong kong housing development in
near 20 years this building is complete in 1994.
in total there is 320 units in a tower and usually it's middle class family who lives here
when we first come here these apartments have a typical layout
in hong kong it has a layout of five door facing the living room so
there was no wall space to put the tv and there's a lot of wear and tear
we decided to shift the bathroom door towards the kitchen door
so there's more more space for hanging the tv
so designing a small space which is 40 square meter for a family of three is already difficult
and to make it neat and comfortable was even more difficult so an early decision
that we have made is to make all the furniture built in and we don't have any loose furniture
because that would take up too much space the client also specified a neutral and natural hue
that's why we have chosen wood rattan and terrazzo to complement the more natural elements
at the entrance area we have a set of cabinets and it is also full height which make use of the
height of the space and to accommodate all the storage that we need over there
we have made a lower cabinet we allow people to sit there
to wear their shoes before they go out and there's also
a mirror where it makes a perfect spot for you to check your outfit before heading out
for the living room we designed sofa which is built-in with the storage below the sofa so to
maximize the storage and baby can put the toys inside that above the feature wall we have the
a bunch of storage made with rattan cover it's also covered in air conditioner
and when it's not in use so it provides a very clean image for the featurel wall
in order to keep the visual coherence we put a metal plate at the back of the wood veneer
to form a magnetic board and that can allow the family to put in family photos
children's artwork to create more fun atmosphere for the living space
and to the tv cabinets it is also made of the key materials of the design which is
made of rattan and terrazzo and above the tv wall we use a special texture paint which is
more like concrete and marble mixed together and it gives a more warmer texture to the house
the door and the wall are made of the same material which is wood veneer
so for the main bedroom we have a platform bed where we can put all the storage underneath the
platform bed we put rattan at the bay window and then become a very cozy zone where the parents
can read boooks and the kids can play that there is a full high wardrobe inside the master bedroom
and we use the same wood veneer to cover it up so we have a unified design
for the kids bedroom we designed the room as a really flexible just with the platform
we want to keep the layout of the kids bedroom flexible so that when the kids grow up
he can add whatever he wants inside the room also in the kids bedroom we have underfloor storage
and there's a hydraulic table and so when the baby grows up they can use this as a study desk
so for the dining area we create a dining table which can be tucked into the cabinet
the reason why we do it is because we want a very big space for baby Manus to play around
we just want to make a table simple and easy to tuck in and tuck out it is on the wheel so that
they can rotate it out easily like in 10 seconds
so we painted the kitchen door and the bathroom door with the same material
to the wall so it creates seamless atmosphere the kitchen is typically small from hong kong standard
we just do one trick for the kitchen cabinet we make the top
shelves a lighter color so when you look up it looks like it's extending upward we fit
in the washing machine in the kitchen because it's for a lot of washing stuff for the baby
since we shifted the bathroom door when we open the door from the living room
we see the mirror cabinet instead of the toilet
and inside the bathroom we have also put in a lots of tiles which create a slightly different
atmosphere between the bathroom and the living room and but it's also keep it into an earthy tone
this is very difficult to get a big apartment in Hong Kong and they are very expensive
so it is important to have good design for tiny space because it gives hopes to the
young people in Hong Kong so with good design we are telling young people that they should be
hopeful and they do not need to sacrifice the living standard even though the space is small
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