The Peak area in Hong Kong has been traditionally a prestigious neighborhood. With the colonial historical background, the area has been the getaway land for the Governor’s resort villas, domicile for Consulates, or “Taipan” of international Trading Companies. Traditionally the architectural designs of villas/ mansions in the Peak area were rooted in western style, with adjustments to suit the hot humid monsoon climate in Hong Kong.
The project attempts an exploration of the quality of architecture and the pleasure of living. The design of the single-family house circles around the basis of daily life activities: resting, cooking, dining, bathing, entertaining, and partying. The essence of the quality of the architecture elevates the experience of the living pleasure with space, the light, the view.
The idea of “luxury” in residential is revisited in this project with spatial quality, humane proportion, cozy atmosphere, elegance in architectural details articulation, sympathy to the surrounding landscape.
The project encompasses 4 individual houses in an integrated design setting in the development. It is considered that, by siting the 4 houses on a series of platforms instead of a vast scale of site formation, site planning of the project is a careful and responsive solution to the site condition. The project demonstrates high design sensitivity to natural landscape and topography.
The fenestration designs are sympathetic to the breeze and keep the house well ventilated, particularly in the local climate. It also frames the view in the focal as well as sculpts the light into the interior. Fenestration of generous sliding doors at family rooms or bedrooms also opens up to spacious flat roofs or balconies, which are common in spilling indoor activities to outdoor in a hot, humid climate.
The project sets a new benchmark for high-end residential developments in a monsoon tropical climate. An elegant presentation of luxury living which demonstrates that marketability, the human pleasure of living, and architectural excellence, complements to natural context, all can work hand in hand. This is particularly treasured in view of the boom in rapid development as well as rocketing property marketability in residential architecture in Asia.