NEVER TOO SMALL Small Family Hong Kong Apartment - 40sqm_430sqft

Hong Kong is famous for its cramped living space and our client is no different to any other ordinary Hongkongers. And he bought this flat of 40 square meters and he wants to turn it into a flat for family or 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 Cheung 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 the shopping mall. And usually it's middle class family who lives here. It has a layout of five doors facing the living room so there was no wall space to put the tv and there's a lot of wear and tear. 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 element. At the entrance area we have a set of cabinets and it is also full height which makes 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 a 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 a bunch of storage made with rattan cover. It also covers the air conditioner when it's not in use so it provides a very clean image for the feature 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 a more fun atmosphere for the living space. And to the TV cabinet 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 books and the kids can play there. There is a full height 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've designed the room as a very 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 Malus to play around. We just want to make a table simple and easy to tuck in and tuck out. This is on the wheel so that they can rotate out easily like in 10 seconds. So we paint the kitchen door and the bathroom door with the same material to the wall so it creates a 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 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 the washing stuff for the baby. Since we shift 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 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 their living standard even though the space is small.