Micro-apartment in Hong Kong maximises storage and functionality to create a comfortable living space with a staycation feel
- Interior designer Wesley Liu helped a couple transform a 313 sq ft microflat in Kennedy Town by removing some walls and doors
- This created a flow and amplified its stunning sea views, while an eye-catching circular window separates the living room and bedroom
“Terrible, really badly designed,” was the blunt assessment of designer Wesley Liu Yik-kuen when he first saw the 313 sq ft microflat in Hong Kong’s Kennedy Town that he had been hired to renovate.
“It was much smaller than I thought it would be,” says Liu, the co-founder of Interiors No.3 and founder of PplusP Designers, with the four-room apartment feeling poky and dingy, despite having a balcony and stunning sea views.
The owners, a couple in their 30s who still live with their respective parents, had purchased the place so they could spend weekends together. “They came to us and said they had bought a tiny place, and could we make it look bigger,” Liu recalls.
Everything had to be done on a modest budget, and “the owners’ priority was to spend money on materials and construction quality, but not on details such as bathroom fittings or kitchen appliances, since they don’t live here and don’t see a need for it”, says Liu.
He recommended knocking down walls and removing doors, a straightforward yet transformational solution that would create a flow, amplify the vista and improve functionality.
It took Liu just a day to prepare an initial sketch. When the renderings were shown to the clients, they were impressed because “it changed their view of what was possible with the apartment”.
