{"id":190217,"date":"2021-11-15T18:00:50","date_gmt":"2021-11-15T23:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?post_type=id_project&p=190217"},"modified":"2022-11-29T12:30:34","modified_gmt":"2022-11-29T17:30:34","slug":"nc-design-architecture-goes-into-the-woods-to-envision-a-residential-tower-in-hong-kong","status":"publish","type":"id_project","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/nc-design-architecture-goes-into-the-woods-to-envision-a-residential-tower-in-hong-kong\/","title":{"rendered":"NC Design & Architecture Goes Into the Woods to Envision a Residential Tower in Hong Kong"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\"Custom
Custom French trompe l\u2019oeil wallpaper brings a librarylike calm to the communal lounge area, which is furnished with custom sofas and coffee table.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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November 15, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n

Words: <\/span>Michael Snyder<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography: <\/span>HDP Photography<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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NC Design & Architecture Goes Into the Woods to Envision a Residential Tower in Hong Kong<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Forest huts and woodland lodges are the inspiration behind the interiors of Timber House, a residential tower in Hong Kong by NC Design & Architecture<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hong Kong is among the last places on earth where you might expect to find a tree house. Yet there, in the middle of the Kowloon neighborhood, straddling the end of a congested, tower-lined alley, you\u2019ll find just that: a wood cabin with a simple gabled outline that a child might draw, suspended 12 feet above street level amidst tropical foliage. Conceived by NC Design & Architecture, the abstracted cabin marks the entrance to Timber House, a new 30-story residential complex by property conglomerate New World Development and architecture firm AGC Design. It\u2019s also an invitation into a world of curiosity and childlike wonder where, NCDA principal Nelson Chow says, \u201cPeople should feel that anything is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in Hong Kong and raised between there and Toronto, Chow received a master\u2019s in architecture from Ontario\u2019s University of Waterloo before earning a certificate in men\u2019s tailoring at New York\u2019s Fashion Institute of Technology in 2005. He had always wanted to study fashion but the instability of a career in that industry made it a hard sell to his family. So he spent the first years of his professional life as an architect at AvroKO, a Manhattan firm specializing in hospitality projects. There he worked on designing everything from restaurant-staff uniforms to custom furniture, a holistic approach he took with him when he moved back to Hong Kong in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chow founded his firm two years later, working on prominent restaurant and bar projects, including his breakthrough design for Foxglove, a slick speakeasy behind a 19th-century umbrella shop in downtown Hong Kong. \u201cI like to think of my designs as stage sets that engage with emotional experience,\u201d Chow says. \u201cArchitects like to look down on interior designers, and interior designers like to look down on people who work at a smaller scale than they do. But I think really everything, every detail, is equally important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Floating
Floating amid tropical foliage, a wood cabin marks the entry to Timber House, a Hong Kong residential tower with interiors by NC Design & Architecture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That meticulous, experiential ethos made Chow the perfect designer to head up New World Development\u2019s Timber House project. \u201cI\u2019m always looking for avant-garde ways to help strengthen the important relationship between society and our planet,\u201d says CEO and executive vice chairman Adrian Cheng, the driving force behind the complex. \u201cIt\u2019s very important to us that we make an impact with each property we produce, and I believe Timber House does this in a fun and creative new way.\u201d Backing onto Ho Man Tin hill, a sliver of greenery that has made its eponymous neighborhood one of the city\u2019s most sought-after residential districts, Timber House generates wonder and surprise precisely by restoring the connection between people and nature otherwise lost in the teeming metropolis. Comprising 240 apartments ranging in size from 222 to 526 square feet, the building is conceived principally for young families who move to the area for its top-notch schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tree house, which floats in a three-story cutout at the building\u2019s entrance, is just the first suggestion of the witty, mysterious, kid-friendly world inside. Powder-coated corrugated steel doors with brass handles and fluted glass panels are a portal between the sun-blasted concrete maze of the neighborhood and the lobby\u2014a cool, forest lodge of a space, its walls painted deep olive\u2014centered on a custom blackened-steel reception desk that resembles a woodburning stove, complete with smokestack. Each of the two elevators across the lobby has a backlit blackened-steel ladder running up its rear wall; reflected in the cab\u2019s mirror ceiling, the rungs appear to offer infinite ascent toward an unseen destination. \u201cWe like to create a sense of whimsy wherever we can,\u201d Chow says, \u201cespecially in this project, which is really for kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Adjoining
Adjoining a terrace with rope furniture by Emiliana Design, the children\u2019s play area on the amenities floor has a reading cabin accessed by ladder.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Communal amenities span the second floor. A lounge, dining area, and kitchen occupy a terraced corner space overlooking the adjacent forested hillside\u2014a shock of green that\u2019s echoed in the pine lacquer finish on the custom kitchen cabinetry. A third of the floor is dedicated to a play area that includes a cluster of suspended cabins similar to the one down on the street. The little structures, which float above a ball pit, padded activity zone, and reading nook, are connected by tubes, like a miniature cloud-borne city built for and governed by children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That singular combination of sophistication and play continues into the residential quarters on the higher floors. At the entrance to each unit, brass fixtures Chow calls \u201ccuriosity lights\u201d use magnifying glasses to highlight apartment numbers. Inside, hand-picked finishes, from back painted\u2013glass kitchen backsplashes to custom brass hardware, lend a sense of understated luxury, while a carefully chosen palette of pale grays, deep greens, and black is a far cry from the harsh, blank white of many residential-development interiors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The custom blackened-steel reception desk evokes a woodburning stove.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Black and gray ceramic tile clads the building\u2019s facade, which is dotted with lushly planted balconies that provide privacy for city-facing apartments. The verdure extends to a rooftop garden-farm that commands impressive views of Hong Kong\u2019s jagged skyline and gives clear outward expression to the developer\u2019s commitment to sustainability. \u201cEvery city is addressing the idea of sustainability in its own way,\u201d Chow notes, \u201cso bringing greenery into a building, that\u2019s not just happening in Hong Kong. But in a place this built-up, every inch counts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, too, does every door handle, every surface, every point of connection between spaces and people\u2014all the details that, taken together, make Chow\u2019s work so engaging. Ultimately, Timber House suggests precisely what the designer hoped: If you can live in a cabin in the heart of Hong Kong, then maybe anything truly is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Powder-coated
Powder-coated corrugated steel clads the entry doors and surrounding wall, while fluted glass insets allow daylight into the lobby.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Reflected
Reflected in an elevator cab\u2019s mirror ceiling, a custom blackened-steel ladder seems to stretch to infinity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Custom
Custom pendant globes illuminate the interior of \nthe cabin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Textured
Textured matte ceramic tile clads the facade.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"The
The 30-story tower, which features lushly planted apartment balconies, is by AGC Design.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The entrance is angled so exiting residents get a framed view of the wood cabin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
A dining area with a custom table surrounded by Hee Welling chairs adjoins the amenities-floor communal kitchen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"In
In an apartment bathroom, the curves of the mirror cabinet and sink vanity\u2014both custom\u2014echo one another.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Custom
Custom French trompe l\u2019oeil wallpaper brings a librarylike calm to the communal lounge area, which is furnished with custom sofas and coffee table.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
A network of floating cabins turns the children\u2019s area into a miniature city.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
project team<\/h6><\/div>\n\n\n\n
NC Design & Architecture<\/span><\/a>: john liu; rain ho; rafael pardo; jasmine kong; eddie wong<\/span><\/section>\n\n\n\n
agc design<\/span><\/a>: building architect<\/span><\/section>\n\n\n\n
adrian l norman<\/span><\/a>: land\u00adscaping consultant<\/span><\/section>\n\n\n\n
spectrum design & associates (asia)<\/span><\/a>: lighting consultant<\/span><\/section>\n\n\n\n
hip seng builders<\/span><\/a>: General Contractor<\/span><\/section>\n\n\n\n
product sources from front<\/h6><\/div>\n\n\n\n
kettal<\/span><\/a>: sofa, table, ottomans, cushions (terrace)<\/span><\/section>\n\n\n\n
pierre frey<\/span><\/a>: curtain fabric (play area, lounge)<\/span><\/section>\n\n\n\n
koziel<\/span><\/a>: wallpaper<\/span><\/section>\n\n\n\n
Hay<\/span><\/a>: chairs (dining area)<\/span><\/section>\n\n\n\n
kvadrat<\/span><\/a>: sofa fabric (lounge)<\/span><\/section>\n\n\n\n
kohler co.<\/span><\/a>: toilet, sink, sink fittings (bathroom)<\/span><\/section>\n\n\n\n
ceramica vogue<\/span><\/a>: tile<\/span><\/section>\n\n\n\n
THROUGHOUT<\/h6><\/div>\n\n\n\n
dulux<\/span><\/a>: paint<\/span><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n