Life.Culture.Discovery.

How this family home creates positive head spaces to live, work and play

This home for a family of four in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong, was designed to feel like a sanctuary, calming mind and body – but there’s also room for play

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This triplex in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong, has a cavernous lower ground floor with a double-height ceiling. Photo: Steven Ko Photography

Published: 5:15pm, 14 Jan 2025

The developer of this Tuen Mun triplex wisely left some internal spaces open to the buyer’s imagination. With the lowest level entirely open plan (apart from a guest bathroom), and half of the highest floor likewise, the owners and their designers, Bean Buro co-founders Kenny Kinugasa-Tsui and Lorène Faure, could tailor-make rooms without requiring major demolition.

The early 2020 purchase of the new, 2,860 sq ft apartment was prescient of the way Covid would change residential design. Natural light, cross ventilation and – thanks to the slope of the land – multilevel blended indoor/outdoor living areas were inherent in the build, laying the groundwork for a nurturing, wellness-focused interior the family wanted.

“The owners were looking for multifunctional solutions that would enable parents and children to do as much from home as possible, and serve as a haven for mental health and well-being post-pandemic,” says Kinugasa-Tsui.

The dining table has a marble top on a bronze metal and timber base by Bean Buro. Photo: Steven Ko Photography

The cavernous lower ground floor, with its double height ceiling, lent itself to a dynamic hang-out space the designers call a “playpod”, serving the everyday activities of a family of four (two parents, two children), and doubling as a kids (and later, teens) social zone when friends visit.

Accessed from the car park, it accommodates a table for arts and crafts or casual meals, a study nook where the mother can work within earshot of her children, and opens onto an exercise terrace.

Using the room’s loftiness, the designers created a mezzanine with a built-in study desk for both children. Inspired by a treehouse, and crafted in Bean Buro’s familiar curves, it includes a balustrade with peepholes allowing sight of the level below.

Bean Buro co-founder Lorène Faure Mun says materials and finishes were chosen with wellness and children’s safety in mind. Photo: Steven Ko Photography

“We could’ve made the mezzanine bigger, as some clients might be tempted to do to utilise the entire area,” Faure points out. “But this was about creating a nice flow and enjoying the natural light and airiness of the double-height space.”