Conduit Tower

The owners run an art gallery and are keen collectors, so the home almost designed itself: a minimalist approach with white walls and dark furniture, the best possible backdrop for them to hang and rotate their collection. They wanted the place to reflect the Asian culture of the city they live in, so we kept the full-height living-room windows to draw in Hong Kong's skyline, then deliberately pared back the built-in features so the art, not the joinery, stays the focal point.

Rather than add structure, we leaned on a few strong gestures. We hung wooden panels carved by some of China's finest craftsmen as the room's anchor, letting the Asian theme come through one considered piece at a time instead of decoration everywhere. It is restrained residential interior design, where what you leave out matters as much as what you put in.

The couple were expecting their first baby but still wanted to host friends, so the living and dining areas had to stay open and generous, with room for a sizeable home theatre and space to mingle. We turned the third bedroom into the nursery and fitted a stable-style door split into two panels: the parents can keep an eye on the baby over the open top half while the closed bottom half keeps a soon-to-be-crawling child safely in the room.