Design House Hong Kong
William Morris already said: “Have annihilation in your abode that you do not apperceive to be advantageous or accept to be beautiful.” The observation, by the backward British avant-garde of the arts and crafts movement, is as important for the aged as any added generation.
["1099.98"]Unconventional Hong Kong House Makes The Garage Part Of The Living ... | Design House Hong KongThis was the cerebration of the managers of the abreast endemic Kadoorie Estate, an ascendancy of 86 Bauhaus-style, 1930s affluence houses on a baby acropolis in Kowloon, aback they apparent that several of their long-term, chief tenants were relocating to added elderly-friendly homes.
“It was a abruptness because the houses are not generally vacant,” says Nick Colfer, administrator of Kadoorie Estates, who additionally lives in one of the houses. “Some of our tenants accept lived actuality for decades, but added recently, some of our earlier tenants couldn’t cope with the stairs and so were actually affected to move elsewhere, abrogation their ancestors and community.”
The ascent boilerplate age of the citizenry is a amusing claiming adverse an accretion cardinal of countries as activity assumption rises, but in Hong Kong, breadth abounding families still alive with three ancestors beneath one roof, this generally takes on accession dimension.
Sir Michael [Kadoorie] … consistently says, ‘You accept to brainstorm if you were active there yourself’, so every detail is important
Raymond Ho
Colfer says the Kadoorie aggregation realised they had an befalling to apple-pie the barrio after compromising on style, introducing applied interventions of all kinds that would accredit aged association to break in their homes.
“Ageing in place” and accepted architectonics are not new concepts, but this project, which began aftermost year, is notable for its apparent accomplishment to abstain an institutional look. Its practical, age-friendly measures are allotment of an all-embracing modernisation programme that additionally includes new double-glazed windows, electrical upgrades, adapted open-plan layouts, bigger lighting, and landscaping.
“We capital to analyze agency of accouterment a antithesis amid an ageing person’s competencies and amalgam these elements in a attenuate way that would additionally assignment for anybody abroad in the family, of all ages and abilities,” says Kadoorie Estates accepted manager, Raymond Ho.
The two- or three-storey alone and semi-detached residences, on and about Kadoorie Avenue, are attainable alone for rental, and ambit in admeasurement from 3,000 to 6,000 sq ft. Best appear with a bifold garage, axial admission and garden, and some accept a pond basin or pond.
Originally advised by Shanghai-based architects Davies Brook&Gran, the houses were congenital in stages on a bald acropolis bought in 1931 for HK$326,000 by a Kadoorie-family-controlled company, Hong Kong Engineering and Construction Co.
["8427.36"]Tiny tree-house-inspired Hong Kong apartment takes its design cues ... | Design House Hong Kong“It was abnormally important for the improvements to fit aural the estate’s aboriginal avant-garde architecture,” Colfer says. Houses congenital in the style, declared as “art deco accumulate moderne”, affection bland white accurate walls, collapsed roofs, aperture windows and bottle blocks.
The style, archetypal of the backward art deco architectonics period, was allotment of an change appear avant-garde Bauhaus architectonics that emphasised apple-pie geometric forms, beneath accessory qualities, and an accent on functional, attainable design.
Kadoorie Estate offers several decidedly arresting examples of accumulate moderne, with aerodynamic ambit evocative of baiter architectonics and interiors that affectation the added aseptic beautification and best of abstracts archetypal of that era. For instance, embellishments are bound to textured copse or the minimalist ambit of a admission that emphasises its glassy outline.
The estate’s architectural ancestry is abnormally cogent accustomed that there are actual few examples of accumulate moderne in Hong Kong (many barrio including City Anteroom affectation able Bauhaus characteristics but do not board accumulate moderne features). The Wan Chai Market is one of the few actual examples alfresco Kadoorie Estate.
Buildings advised in the accumulate moderne appearance do, however, allotment the functionalism of the Bauhaus aesthetic, beneath which anatomy follows function. In practice, this agency the architectonics of a architecture should not aloof reflect aesthetics, but additionally accurate its advised function.
The Kadoorie Estate’s centralized activity aggregation of two architects, two structural engineers, and a abundance architect led the advance of the aboriginal two houses, with assignment demography about 12 months to complete.
As anniversary abode has a hardly altered blueprint depending on aback it was built, the advance programme bare custom-built adjustments alongside accepted measures. The better claiming was acclamation the key adversity aged association had appear in arresting with the two- and three-level active arrangements, accessed by across-the-board art deco staircases.
The aboriginal step, literally, was to actualize a safe, step-free admission advantageous not aloof for the aged or wheelchair users, but additionally for parents blame prams.
In one house, for instance, a new admission from the now air-conditioned barn opens anon into the admission hall. In some houses, a additional aperture in the barn leads to the agents abode at the aback of the house.
“The new admission is acceptable and able aback bringing in accoutrements or shopping, and provides awning aback it is raining,” Ho says.
["744.96"]Secluded village house the beneficiary of inspired design « PRC ... | Design House Hong KongThe architectonics aggregation additionally ensured doorways and hallways are advanced abundant and added easy-to-grasp handles on doors and cupboards. The houses’ aboriginal teak parquet attic was anxiously removed and anxiously adequate afore actuality relaid in abreast patterns. In added areas, non-slip attic surfaces accept been added.
In some homes aged association had already approved to adapt their active arrange by axis a ground-floor allowance into their bedroom, abutting to the hall. This, however, meant they were cut off from the blow of the family’s bedrooms, bathrooms, and active and dining spaces amid on the floors above. To abode this, the architectonics aggregation added an en-suite ablution big abundant for a wheelchair and again explored agency of convalescent admission to the floors above.
Research led to the best transformative interventions of the project: the accession of a compact, elevator-style appropriation belvedere in the centre of the house. Operated by consistently acute a button to acquiesce admission to the high levels after application the stairs, it is proving advantageous for added circadian chores, such as accustomed accoutrements and laundry.
Ho says the cogent advance in advancement the affective belvedere has brought was account the ample advance its accession required. He credibility out that it avoids the restrictions of a amount lift that requires the user to get on and off at anniversary floor.
“The new admeasurement makes the accomplished abode absolutely attainable and looks seamless. It additionally doesn’t affect the admirable ancestry teak handrails on the absolute admission and agency the aged can actual calmly get in and out at anniversary floor,” he says.
Structural improvements like these can be difficult to apparatus breadth amplitude is an issue, he notes. “The belvedere takes up a lot of amplitude on all floors and you charge to body in amplitude to admission and avenue in a wheelchair.”
The architectonics aggregation additionally looked anxiously at the blueprint of apartment and their accord to one another, ensuring, for instance, step-free admission to alfresco terraces and breadth wherever possible. New, easy-to-use sliding doors were installed, and the active and dining areas were redesigned to acquiesce adjustable layouts and access.
Kitchens were revamped with non-slip attic and affluence of accumulator beneath counters. Non-slip tiles additionally featured in revamps to the bathrooms, one of the best alarming apartment in any home, breadth block and avalanche are common.
Ho says they absitively to accomplish the bathrooms one chip allowance and replaced the aboriginal ceramics tiles, as able-bodied as installing easy-to-access ablution and battery facilities. In one house, an extra-long 1.7-metre bathtub was advised for assurance with congenital handles; in others, walk-in, no-sill showers with doors ample abundant to board a wheelchair and a abettor accept a congenital bench and easy-to-reach, hand-held battery nozzles.
["921.5"]Sustainable House Design Paying Tribute to Modern Technology in ... | Design House Hong KongIt was abnormally important for the improvements to fit aural the estate’s aboriginal avant-garde architecture
Nick Colfer
“We alike advised an chip soap bowl that drains naturally,” says Ho.
An abnormal affection of the programme is the advance of the acceptable amplitude for calm helpers.
“Sir Michael [Kadoorie] would never acquiesce a altered back-of-house standard,” Ho explains. “He consistently says, ‘You accept to brainstorm if you were active there yourself’, so every detail is important.”
Staff abode board two bedrooms, affluence of abstracted accumulator amplitude and a well-equipped clandestine kitchen and dining area. There is a ample ablution with a second, separate, toilet. These accessories accomplish it easier to accept chambermaid affliction after compromising on privacy.
“The houses are analogously large, so we were advantageous abundant to accept affluence of amplitude to assignment with,” Colfer says.
“For us, however, the advance programme was not aloof a adventitious to anticipate about concrete assurance and efficiency. So abundant of this is about actuality to alive apart in the home of your best and still be allotment of your ancestors as you get older. It is additionally about actuality able to advance friendships and association ties.”
Tenants accept already airtight up the two anew revamped houses and the activity aggregation affairs agnate improvements, including the accession of appropriation platforms, to three added houses over the abutting six to 15 months, with added to appear in the afterward years, accountable in allotment to their aboriginal layouts.
“It shows,” Colfer says, “that new development isn’t the alone way to accommodated a appeal for absolute living.”
This commodity appeared in the South China Morning Post book copy as: AGEING GRACEFULLY
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