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      Lim + Lu bridges old and new inside Yung's Bistro in Hong Kong

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      Multidisciplinary studio Lim + Lu has based the interior of Yung’s Bistro in Hong Kong on the rich history of its 78-year-old sister restaurant.Yung’s Bistro is an offshoot of esteemed Hong Kong restaurant, Yung Kee, which was founded by Kam Shui-fai as a modest outdoor food stall – known as a dai pai dong – before a brick-and-mortar restaurant was opened in 1942.
      Over the past 78 years the restaurant, which is still in operation, has become revered for its take on Cantonese cuisine and is particularly well known for its roast goose dish.

      Top image: the interior of Yung’s Bistro. Above: a communal table anchors the more casual dining section of the restaurant

      The newly launched Yung’s Bistro is presided over by Shui-fai’s granddaughter, who tasked local studio Lim + Lu with devising a contemporary interior scheme that honours the humble beginnings of its predecessor, Yung Kee.
      “For this project, the client’s brief is rather abstract; remembering their roots while paving the path for the future,” said the studio, which is led by Vincent Lim and Elaine Lu.
      “It was important that the design draws inspiration from the flagship restaurant and allows customers to recognize that this new restaurant is born of the same meticulous DNA towards food preparation and detail-oriented customer service.”

      The tiled drinks bar sits beneath a gridded brass framework
      A subtle mix of old and new has therefore been incorporated throughout Yung’s Bistro, which is loosely divided into two halves.
      The front half of the restaurant plays host to a more casual dining area. At its centre is a communal brass-edged dining table, included as a wink to Yung Kee’s early days as a food stall when customers would often have to share tables because of the scarcity of space in the surrounding alleyway.
      The table is surrounded by green-velvet chairs with slim brass legs, while a series of lantern-like pendant lights by Danish designer Lucie Kass dangle overhead.

      One wall is lined with patterned tiles with brushed-gold detailing
      A corrugated wall runs down one side of the casual dining area, serving as a backdrop to the drinks bar. The curved, C-shaped counter of the bar is clad with sea-green tiles, contrasting the pink stool seats that have been placed directly in front.
      Glassware and trailing plants are openly displayed in a gridded brass framework that’s been suspended from the ceiling. It’s meant to loosely resemble the bamboo scaffolding which is often used in the construction of Hong Kong’s skyscrapers.

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      The wall behind the restaurant’s cashier desk and merchandise shelves are lined with patterned green tiles with brushed-gold detailing, which were cast from tiles that were installed in Yung Kee in 1978.

      The formal dining section of Yung’s Bistro lies at the rear of the restaurantt
      A formal dining area lies in the rear half of Yung’s Bistro, which monochromatic flooring and circular dining tables that Lim + Lu says are more traditional to Chinese restaurants.
      Chefs can be seen bustling away at work in the kitchen through a sequence of brass windows that run down the side of the room.
      “This view of the kitchen is atypical of Chinese cuisine – however, when the kitchen prepares the goose that made its predecessor one of the most famous restaurants in town, it is a true attraction,” the studio explained.

      Screened windows peek through to the kitchen
      Each of the windows has been fitted with a slatted screen that can be drawn down if the chefs in the kitchen want more privacy.
      When drawn-up the screens almost create an awning over the dining tables, another nod to dai pai dong culture where unfurled awning typically symbolises that a food stall is open for business.
      “Yung’s Bistro serves as a quintessential bridge between old and new, a traditional cultural cuisine of Hong Kong meeting more western and contemporary values,” added the studio. “It is a lesson in respecting what has come before, but also the courage for innovation.”

      This side of the restaurant features monochromatic flooring and circular dining tables
      Lim + Lu was established in 2015. Other Hong Kong projects by the studio include the revamp of a fashion designer’s apartment, which was brightened up with pops of yellow, turquoise and coral-pink, and the transformation of an old warehouse into a home for two artists and their five pets.
      Photography is by Lit Ma of Common Studio.

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      Sim-Plex Design Studio creates a four-bedroom smart home in Hong Kong

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      Voice-activated technology and space-saving furniture helped Sim-Plex Design Studio turn a two-bedroom home in Hong Kong into Smart Zendo, a four-bedroom apartment with hidden storage.Smart Zendo is in Hong Kong’s Coastal Skyline neighbourhood. The project has been shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2020 in the small interior of the year category.

      A coffee table appears on voice command
      Sim-Plex Design Studio converted the home for a couple who often travel for work and needed room for multigenerational living.

      “Eric and Lory moved to Hong Kong from Taiwan many years ago and have a son,” said Sim-Plex founder Patrick Lam.

      Benches hide storage in the kitchen area
      “Eric needs to travel frequently throughout the country, and Lory is a flight attendant. The lack of time spent at home means they often need their grandmother to take care of the children,” added Lam.
      “Eric and Lory often talk about the scenery and homestay in Taiwan and how they missed them so much.”

      The apartment can now house four or five people
      Sim-Plex Design Studio aimed to recreate the feeling of their old home in Taiwan while building a flexible living space that could make the most of the 492-square-foot home.
      Wide windows make the most of the views and pale Maplewood floors and cabinets were chosen to create a calm and warm atmosphere.

      A screen unfolds to turn the living area into a private room
      The floor of the living room is a raised platform with trap door-style elements that lift to reveal hidden storage for children’s toys and other household necessities.
      A coffee table up rises up from the platform to create a sunken bench where the adults can sit and enjoy tea ceremonies.

      Toys can be stored in the raised platform floor
      Technology is everywhere in the apartment, but the interior designers deliberately made it less obvious, preferring a subtle approach rather than overtly futuristic placements.
      Smart homes should use technology to enhance the lives of busy city dwellers, not distract them, said Lam.

      A table rises up for sharing a tea ceremony
      Voice-activated technology allows the residents to open the curtains, turn on the lights, lock or unlock the door and even raise the table.
      Curtains, screens and the home security system are all controlled by apps and remotes, and plugs and wall sockets are all secreted away.

      Big windows frame the scenery
      “The integrated TV cabinet wall and the wooden floor platform are plain and warm, yet hide a large number of intelligent devices,” said Lam.
      “The design is also integrated into the traditional Feng Shui doctrine, to create a spiritual space where tradition and technology, people and scenery are combined.”

      A raised platform in the bedroom forms a desk chair
      Eric, in particular, is a keen practitioner of Feng Shui, so Sim-Plex Design Studio carefully oriented the living space according to this. Maplewood was chosen to represent the wood element of Feng Shui.

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      “Although the traditional Feng Shui aesthetics and smart technology seems to be contradictory, if applied properly, they also have their compatibility,” said Lam.

      Wood was chosen for its symbolism in Feng Shui
      The open plan kitchen and living room freed up the old kitchen room, which has been converted into a third bedroom for the family’s live-in maid.
      Sliding doors can screen off the living area from the kitchen to create an extra fourth bedroom for when the grandmother comes to stay.

      A makeup table folds out in the bedroom
      Space-saving furniture has been used throughout, including rounded benches that tuck under the dining table in the kitchen area. More storage is integrated into the base of the chairs and the slim drawers in the tabletop.
      In the child’s room, the platform-style bed doubles as a chair for sitting at a desk, while the master bedroom has a hidden makeup table and the bed can double as a stool for using it.

      Marble tiles clad the walls in the bathroom
      The bathroom, with its marble-tiled walls, was modelled on a boutique hotel aesthetic.
      Sim-Plex Design Studio was founded by Patrick Lam and specialises in small space solutions for Hong Kong residents.
      The studio recently designed an apartment in Yuen Long for a multigenerational family – and their pet cat and parrot.

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      Hong Kong's Imperfect Residence embraces the values of wabi-sabi

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      NC Design & Architecture has applied an array of naturally flawed materials throughout this Hong Kong apartment, which has been designed in accordance with the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi. NC Design & Architecture was initially asked by Imperfect Residence’s owners to create a highly functional space that looks beautiful and ages well. The Hong Kong-based […] More