Child’s bed with a slide, indoor playground, Bearbrick figures, the full cinema experience: Hong Kong apartment is designed with fun in mind

Sep 24, 2023

Who says design needs to be serious business?

Young parents Daniel and Joanne Wong wanted a playful vibe for their newly bought 1,200 sq ft (110 square metre) Sha Tin flat in Hong Kong’s New Territories, and asked Regina Kwok Wing-sum, of Artwill Interior Design House, to come up with fun concepts.

Innovative ways to display Daniel’s collection of Bearbrick figures were well received, but it was the idea of turning their toddler Sophia’s bedroom into a fully fledged indoor playground that excited the couple.

The apartment’s four bedrooms are arranged in pairs bookending the central living area. Kwok was given free rein to create the playground using two rooms.

In the parents’ zone, at the opposite end, are their bedroom, en suite bathroom and a study.

Kwok had designed collectibles storage for clients before, but the play­ground, complete with slide curling down from a treehouse-style bed, was a first.

Safety was an overriding consideration. “We had to carefully calculate the degrees of the slide’s angles, which determines the speed of descent,” Kwok says. To ensure the staircase leading up to the bed was safe for excited toddlers to scramble up, the design director fashioned it with wide treads in a gentle, sweeping curve.

To allow for quiet time, a reading nook is nestled at the base of the hardwood structure. Also incorporated on the lower level is a second, double bed perfect for hosting sleepovers.

Removing a wall provided more play space in the adjoining room, where the family bathroom is also situated. And when she tires, Sophia can nap on her day bed surrounded by whales (on wallpaper) and a faux aquarium (see Tried + tested below).

Access to Sophia’s adventure zone is cleverly integrated into the wall in the living room housing the Bearbricks. To avoid visually dissecting the long bank of display cabinets, Kwok replaced the conventional timber door with a glass slider on a customised track.

When open, the door moves across the cabinetry front, and when it’s bedtime for the child a second sliding panel inside the adventure zone soundproofs the rooms.

A wall-hung television would also have detracted from the figures on show, so Kwok recommended a roll-up screen, with a low cabinet housing the audiovisual equipment. This presented another opportunity: the addition of blackout curtains allows the family to enjoy a full cinema experience at home.

The playful elements continue with a dining table-cum-bar. Elevated at one end, gliding down to regular table height at the other, it is crafted from a single piece of Corian – the only material, Kwok says, that could accommodate such a shape seamlessly – atop two pillars of different heights, one clad in faux leather, the other in stainless steel.

Above the table, a flock of white birds seemingly perched on a wire is, in fact, a stylised pendant by British architect and designer Umut Yamac. Behind it, a pantry for preparing drinks tricks the eye once more, the pattern on the stone wall tiles appearing to move like smoke.

All of this design cheer is not lost in the parents’ zone. Entering via a door concealed as part of timber-faced storage in the living room, one is greeted by a curved wall inset with a ship’s-cabin-style door crafted from textured glass.

“It’s actually the access to the en suite, but we wanted to make it different from the norm,” Kwok says.

The wall between bedroom and en suite is made with switchable smart glass, giving the illusion of space, and affording privacy when needed.

Refined accents crafted from faux leather and wood in the soothing green and blue hues of nature invoke a sense of serenity in not only the parents’ bedroom but also the study. Floor-level LED strip lighting around the perimeter of the bedroom enhances the romantic atmosphere.

So many elements of this imaginative renovation, completed in July 2022, delight a family that lives for now, but is also mindful that life evolves.

Sophia’s playground, while sturdily built to withstand rambunctious play, is designed to be easily dismantled, and the dividing wall to the adjoining bedroom restored if required. As she grows, who knows what might be dreamed up for the next reincarnation of this family’s home?

LED-lit display cabinets showcasing the owner’s Bearbrick figurines were designed and built by Artwill Interior Design House (artwill.com.hk), as were the cabinets painted in soft green with a brass trim and glass sliding door giving access to the daughter’s rooms.

Above the dining table-cum-bar hangs a Moooi Perch Light Branch, by Umut Yamac, from colourliving (colourliving.com). The Bredaquaranta Clara sofa and pouf came from Baxter (hongkong.baxter.it).

Artwill Interior Design House designed and built the white marble coffee table with gold plated rim and matte black metal legs, the display cabinets, low audiovisual console and the built-in storage cabinets.

The combination dining table and bar with a Corian top and legs finished in contrasting faux leather and stainless steel was designed and built by Artwill Interior Design House.

The four Arum dining chairs came from Roche Bobois Hong Kong. In the pantry behind, 3D-effect Petra Melville Carrara wall tiles, from Karlian International (karlianintl.com), give the impression of moving smoke.

The floor tiles are Smoke Natural from Italian brand Gigacer’s Concrete series and came from Anta Building Material Supplier.

All the furnishings in the main bedroom were designed and built by Artwill Interior Design House. Decorating details include a fluted glass panel in the doorway to the en suite, a smart glass panel from Film Players (3/F, Core Building 1, 1 Science Park East Avenue, Sha Tin, tel: 2370 0510), wallpaper from Tat Ming Wallpaper (tatming.com) and a two-tier headboard upholstered in deep blue and soft green faux leather.

The low-hanging bedside lamp came from colourliving. On the left, a wall-hung television is set within a custom-made metal frame. The Timberwise engineered-oak flooring from Finland was supplied by Karlian International.

Designed and built by Artwill Interior Design House in pink- and blue-painted hardwood, Sophia’s bedroom, with upper and lower beds, a slide, staircase and reading nook, is a fully fledged adventure playground.

The storage platform and other areas are upholstered in faux leather with custom foam fillers to provide cushioning for falls.

The boldly patterned wall tiles, a mix of Spanish Living Ceramics and Italian Mutina brands, came from Anta Building Material Supplier (311A Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2180 6950).

The basin came from colourliving and the tap from Oscar Bath & Kitchen (oscar-hk.com). The Corian-topped vanity unit was designed and built by Artwill Interior Design House.

To enhance the under-the-sea adventure zone for her client’s toddler, designer Regina Kwok Wing-sum created a faux aquarium in a circular recess in the built-in wardrobes, with the backdrop painted ocean blue.