Indholdsfortegnelse for March/April 2022 i Home Journal

Compiling this issue has been such a thrill for us as it was done mostly on the fly. What was meant to be our annual Art issue has been pushed back two months to coincide with two major art events in town that have been put off until May in response to the Omicron surge. Not to mention the lockdowns, closure of some businesses and the fact that being homebound left us with no choice but to put production and interviews on hold. All of this meant a near complete redo of the issue which the team had been preparing for months. If there was anything we learnt from the ride, it was to roll with the punches, adjust to the unexpected and savour all the thrills that come with it.…

Two years of the pandemic has stirred the compelling urge for some adventures and spontaneity in us. Never before have we yearned for a renewal so imperatively but what we have somehow forgotten is that such a coveted mood booster can easily be found by adding bold colours and dramatic shapes in our living space. Channel joy and optimism into your home with dynamic colours of cadmium yellow, azure or magenta pink that connote a burst of playfulness and rejuvenation. Play off the vibrant hues with walls in clean, crisp white or ivory to keep the home light and versatile. For the more daring, try out accent or patterned walls in unabashed hues of dusky pink, olive green or even saffron that immediately bring your home to life. Accessorise the…

Families are almost always in need of space. And when the family includes people who acquire and collect art, there’s also the problem of where to store it. The solution a couple found – in the heart of Hong Kong’s busiest hub – was to have not one, but two duplex apartments combined. “The house owners, who live with two young children, crave open layouts and an ample amount of space to display their art collection,” says Maggie Mo and Jay Leung, design directors of Starz Pasha. By converting two new duplex units into a single dwelling in Yoo Residence in Causeway Bay, the design team conceived a dream home that has the space for family life, a plethora of artwork, and designer furniture. In fact, the home has very…

Interior decorator and artist Anna Erman has transformed her client’s Moscow suburban residential property into a surreal, gallery-like residence for their avant-garde art and sculpture collection. The commodious 10,764 square-foot house was designed by young Moscow architects with a layout that was ideal for what Erman and her client had in mind. “The layout was well-thought-out with voluminous high-ceilinged spaces. This enabled me to plan many different zones, including a swimming pool. It was a dream house for a decorator to work with,” Erman said. The owners of the property are a couple with three children who are passionate about art and unusual décor. Erman worked with them on their first home eight years ago. They were upgrading to this larger property so they could accommodate their growing art collection.…

LOCATION: Mykonos, Greece Villa Perched on the idyllic Mykonos island, a popular recreational spot among the ultra-wealthy, Alia is a two-storey luxurious villa in the sensational Cycladic style that promises the ultimate year-round outdoor living against the backdrop of an emerald sea and a cobalt blue sky. Boasting some 725 square metres of living space, the villa comes with seven bedroom suites and one en suite bedroom – six of which are located on the ground floor along with a gym area, TV area, laundry room; while the living room, dining room, a fully equipped kitchen, along with one other bedroom, sit on the upper floor. Other amenities include an elevator, Daikin VRV system (cool, heat, dry) and hot water system, alarm system, wine cooler, and a fitted laundry room…

GLOW UP Masiero’s new Iglù lighting collection by Oriano Favaretto is an interplay of weights, volumes, and geometries. Available in different sizes and finishes, the metal spheres suspended in mid-air diffuse light through a metal mesh that protects the light itself. The spheres are the luminous crown jewel fit for the most contemporary of homes. masierogroup.com A TASTY ADDITION McDonald’s has unveiled its new Shanghai headquarters in collaboration with Steve Leung Design Group. Spanning two floors, the 700 square-metre cube-shaped flagship restaurant known as the “Big Mac Cube” can accommodate more than 200 customers. Weaving together three key design elements – cube, warm colours and hidden smile – the brand has collaborated with CITIC Bookstore to launch a parent-child space combining coffee, a bookstore and a mini theatre for the…

Long gone are the days when we were told not to bring home unfinished work. As the city experiences another abrupt COVID outbreak – more daunting than ever by case numbers – many of us have little choice but to attune to working from home again. Between deadlines, meetings and phone calls, we may find ourselves struggling to stay focused and productive in a cosy cocoon where every piece of furniture seems to be coaxing us to take a rest. Two years of a pandemic has forever upended our work lives and for many has meant turning our living space into a new office, prompting us to rethink the way we curate our homes in the quest for more flexibility between work and home life. To some, a functional work…

Parisian interior and furniture designer Stéphanie Coutas’ most recent project is her very own family home in a traditional 2,411 square foot historical Haussmannian building along Paris’ verdant Esplanade des Invalides. Coutas loved the interior architecture of the unit, which overlooked the Eiffel Tower, but felt the original layout was not as functional as it could be, so she reconfigured the space to create a more fluid and flexible floor plan. “We redesigned, rethought and broke down the original interior architecture of the apartment so we could install climate control, sound insulation, sound equipment, and other connected technologies,” says Coutas, who equipped the study, master bedroom and dressing room with sliding doors so these areas can be cordoned off for privacy, but also opened to connect with the rest of the…

LOCATION: Westminster, London Apartments St Edward’s 9 Millbank, a prestigious residential development that sits on the banks of the River Thames, has a set of five Grade II listed homes on offer ranging from 2,550 to 9,717 square feet. Dubbed The Heritage Collection, the apartments sit on the upper levels of 9 Millbank that overlook some of the most prominent landmarks in London, including the houses of parliament, the River Thames and the London Eye. Situated on the edge of a UNESCO World Heritage site, 9 Millbank was formerly known as Imperial Chemical House – a neoclassical Portland stone building constructed between 1927 and 1929. It was once an influential manufacturer that stood as a physical symbol of its industrial innovation. With tributes to the building’s former life, each residence…

LOCATION: Boston, US Mixed-use development Millennium Partners has unveiled a new mixed-use tower that combines luxury abodes and Class A office spaces in the heart of Boston, slated for completion in 2023. Rising some 691 feet, the building will offer 317 one to four-bedroom residences located on the 35th to the 62nd floor, ranging from 777 to 5,880 square feet. In line with the new norm of working from home, many units of the development come with a flex room that also acts as a home office, gym, media room, or guest room. Residents of Winthrop Center will be able to enjoy a residential club along with a range of five-star services, including valet, door attendant, concierge, meeting pods, co-working spaces, leasable boutique office spaces, and more. Residents will also…

When interior designer Ian Ngai took on a residential project at Larvotto in Ap Lei Chau, little did he know he’d have to find common ground between a couple’s polarising aesthetic preferences. Spread across 1,200 square feet, this Southern district space is home to a couple in their late 30s, who lived in Canada for many years before returning to Hong Kong. They tapped Apollo Design HK to renovate the newly purchased apartment. “Whereas the husband tends towards classic opulence, the wife prefers a home that is more contemporary and minimalist,” says Ngai, who heads up Apollo Design HK’s creative team. “Clients always have their own tastes and requirements. It’s the designer’s job to accommodate and include the ‘must-haves’ of everyone involved.” The idea was to craft a show flat-style home…

It is not without its challenges for a young couple to cohabit with their parents and in-laws. But for Portuguese couple João and Inês, this is exactly why they chose this spot to build their dream home. “This was a very specific plot,” says the project’s architect André Malheiro, founder of Portugal design firm am-arqstudio. “This location was chosen due to the proximity to her parents’ house.” Spanning two levels, this 350m2 residence in Braga, Portugal, is home to an open-plan living and dining area, a kitchen, a service bathroom, a corridor-turned library and a study on the ground floor, in addition to three bedrooms on the upper floor. North to the abode is the parents’ house perched on a higher level – separated, yet connected to the main building…

The ultimate luxury is space, and taking time to unwind, slow down, and be more mindful – and Tswalu Kalahari is a staggeringly beautiful place in which to chill while enveloped in nature, and engaging with the smells, sounds, and sights of the Kalahari. True to its name, Tswalu means new beginnings. Tswalu Kalahari is South Africa’s largest privately owned game reserve – 111,000 hectares (more than 274,000 acres – and a labour of love for the Oppenheimer family. Since taking over responsibility for the reserve in 1998, the family’s commitment has led to the undoing of years of neglect, the re-introduction of many indigenous species, and massive strides towards restoring the Kalahari through sustainable conservation, supported by ecotourism. Tswalu is in the Green Kalahari, a semi-arid region of grassland…

LOCATION: Manhattan, New York Condominium Repurposing heritage landmarks into upscale condominiums has become a key trend in New York’s real estate market. What is intended as a solution to land scarcity turns out to have a fair amount of bonuses – adding character to the homes for one – and the 56-storey tower One Wall Street is a case in point. Originally built in 1931 as the corporate headquarters of American bank Irving Trust, the Irving Trust Company Building, located in Lower Manhattan at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway, was an art deco masterpiece crafted by Ralph Walker – a legendary architect hailed as the “Architect of the Century” by The New York Times in the 1960s. The then 50-storey tower was marked by a grand limestone façade…

LOCATION: Manhattan, New York Mixed-use development New York City has long been known as a paradise for art deco heritage. Since the 1920s after the first world war, the city of dreams has been bristling with spectacular art deco gems that have given the neighbourhood a dose of character. Among them is The Waldorf Astoria New York. Sleek on the outside while lavish on the inside, the art deco-style hotel launched in 1931 has stood as a New York landmark on the premium Park Avenue. Its monochrome exterior has become a designated city landmark since 1993. The coveted address is now being carefully restored into a collection of 375 luxury residences and a 375-key hotel to breathe new life into the art deco masterpiece, and is slated for completion in…