‘I can’t believe it’s the same place’: makeover gives couple’s luxury penthouse a European vibe with Versailles-style parquet floor, marble, colour-coded en suites
- When two older generations moved out of a floor penthouse flat with rooftop pool in Hong Kong and a young couple moved in, they had it remade to fit their needs
- The redesign created a study, nursery, dressing room, two en suites and an 850 sq ft living area with Versailles-pattern parquet floor, marble and smart gadgets
Times have changed for a much-loved family home in the Hong Kong new town of Sha Tin.
In 2021, the elders among a then multigenerational household moved into a new abode, passing the home into the hands of the next generation – a young couple with plans to further grow the family tree.
The timing was opportune for Canadian Alex Lanoie and Kerry Li, a Hongkonger. The pair had been renting a much smaller flat in Pok Fu Lam on Hong Kong Island and needed more space because they were expecting their first child.
At 2,293 sq ft (213 square metres) inside, and the same again on a private rooftop, the Sha Tin penthouse flat had space in spades. But the current custodians had a very different set of lifestyle expectations, so together with designer Maggy Cheung Ming-yuet, art director of Grande Interior Design, a transformation was conceived.
No longer needing the original five bedrooms allowed scope to rearrange the layout and modernise the interior. This included 850 sq ft devoted to the living area – a space made cosy by styling the furnishings into complementary zones.
At one end, sofas, armchairs and occasional tables are grouped around a water vapour electric fireplace, an innovation using ultrasonic technology to create the flame and smoke effect of burning logs.