Relaxed Aussie lifestyle shapes Hong Kong home

Feeling hemmed in by Covid restrictions several years ago, Alan Lau toyed with swapping his family’s Mid-Levels flat for the laid-back way of life he had enjoyed in Brisbane, Australia, where he had worked decades earlier and still has business interests.

His wife, Lydia, having studied in Sydney, understood the attraction.

However, not wishing to transplant their two adolescent children and leave a large extended family behind, the couple reached a compromise. As much as possible, they’d try to replicate in Hong Kong the relaxed lifestyle synonymous with Australia.

A three-storey attached house in Tai Wai, complete with outdoor terrace and pool, hit the mark. With 2,100 sq ft of internal space to work with, plus an outdoor area of about 1,200 sq ft, Ivan Wong Wei-him, architect, designer and founder of In-between Architects, would realise the couple’s vision during a year-long renovation, completed in May 2024.

It wasn’t just about aesthetics, Wong stresses. “With their children still young, the family would be building their memories in this house,” he says of the three-bedroom home. “My first thought was, ‘What’s best for them?’”

Aside from a poolside barbecue terrace – a must – Wong regarded the ground-floor kitchen as the heart of the home. Happily, the size of the existing kitchen was adequate. Removing a wall to integrate it with the dining area allowed an island to be built, its cantilevered countertop providing additional space for four.

The now open-plan social zone extends to a second terrace (half a level below), which comes in handy when family and friends visit for meals, as they often do.