HK architect's innovative solution for space crunch

Feb 9, 2010 - PropertyGuru.com.sg After living in the same boxy, 32-sq-m dwelling for three decades, Hong Kong architect Gary Chang came up with a science fiction-like 'domestic transformer', as an innovative solution to the increasingly repressed lives of many urban residents.

“The idea is everything is moving. This is my laundry space,” said Mr. Chang while sliding a wall filled with CDs to reveal a dryer and washing machine.

A kitchen has materialized by sliding another track-mounted metal wall that bears a plasma TV. Next to that is a grand 1.9-m bathtub, which itself turns into a guest bed.

The award-winning architect has taken the concept of space-saving to the extreme, while people in other crowded cities like Tokyo, have resorted to foldable futons and drop-down beds.

His small rectangular flat, tucked into the bowels of an old, plain tenement building, has polished chrome walls, bearing 24 configurations, with each suiting a particular need.

The available space turns into a kitchen, home theatre, bedroom, spa, chill-out zone rigged up with a hammock, depending on what Mr. Chang needs at any moment.

“The high intensity of use makes (it) more like a large home appliance than a dwelling,” Mr. Chang wrote in his book, 32-metre square apartment -- a 30-year transformation that accounts the beginnings of his innovative dwelling, which has undergone several facelifts through the years.

Mr. Chang, who operates his own architectural and design firm, describes a vacant space as a “luxury”. He once built a 'Suitcase House' in Beijing, blurring the boundaries between private and public space.

“The only enclosed space is the toilet, and again, it's bigger than usual,” said Mr. Chang, whose flat is surrounded by skyscrapers and highways that embody the extensive urban development in Hong Kong that have transformed spacious flats into a pipedream.

At a cost of HK$1.8 million (S$329,600), Mr. Chang hopes that his dwelling will provide a practical, life-enhancing alternative for Hong Kongers who cannot hope for anything bigger.

“The idea is to tune your home closer to what you really want instead of being dictated by the market or by the space allocated,” said the designer, who is now in negotiations with real estate developers to replicate his flat in other costly and space-starved cities across Asia and Europe.

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