{"id":307958,"date":"2026-02-20T11:59:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T11:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/307958\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T11:59:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T11:59:21","slug":"the-origami-apartment-how-washi-paper-and-precision-design-reshaped-a-tsim-sha-tsui-flat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/307958\/","title":{"rendered":"The origami apartment: how washi paper and precision design reshaped a Tsim Sha Tsui flat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some spaces, like people, are simply waiting for their second act. For a rundown unit in Tsim Sha Tsui<\/a>, this meant a total transformation into a modern pied \u00e0 terre.<\/p>\n

Frank Chan first lived in the 500 sq ft space as a boy soon after it was built in 1959. Although the property remained in his family, he had long since moved out, creating a life in Canada with his wife, Mary (who is also from Hong Kong). When the couple, now retired, decided to spend more time in the SAR with friends and family, they opted for a central lock-and-leave retreat.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the location was perfect for us, the place was horrid,\u201d says Frank. \u201cThere were structural columns and beams all over the place. We needed a coherent design for a liveable space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DiningDining area. Photo: Eugene Chan<\/p>\n

Enter British-registered Irish architect David Magennis and architectural designer Bonnie Chau Chi-huen, who grew up in Hong Kong. The pair, who are behind GAAN, were tasked with the property\u2019s makeover. Not only did they have to figure out how to incorporate sleeping space for six people (including a baby) as well as the full complement of washing, dining, storage and living facilities, they also faced a tight deadline: the flat had to be ready in three months for a family event.<\/p>\n

The design duo\u2019s first move was to strip everything down and start again. Drawing on the Chans\u2019 appreciation of Japanese aesthetics, Magennis and Chau created an introverted space and transformed the neglected unit into a stylish one-bedroom, two-bathroom bolt-hole.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only natural light came from an unsightly lightwell but Mary and Frank emphasised the need for a window treatment that ensured they didn\u2019t have to look at it,\u201d says Magennis, who has been living in Hong Kong for three years, after having set up Gaan, with Chau, in Ireland in 2021.<\/p>\n

\"Kitchen.Kitchen. Photo: Eugene ChanHe and Chau masked the problematic windows and lightwell with shoji screens, made from textured Japanese washi paper<\/a> and backlit to emit a soft, ambient glow. This ingenious solution blossomed into a recurring motif: triangular \u201cskylights\u201d of the same mulberry-fibre paper were strategically placed above doorways, along corridors and over key furnishings. Chau and Magennis also installed a false vaulted ceiling to disguise ugly beams and impart a feeling of height. The apex of each skylight marks the centre point of the area below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some spaces, like people, are simply waiting for their second act. For a rundown unit in Tsim Sha…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[144782,307,304,305,306,144785,289,144789,308,93,144784,144776,144787,240,61,22532,60,144778,144781,144779,51106,144783,144786,144788,144777,144780],"class_list":["post-307958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-artisan-living","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-bonnie-chau-chi-huen","tag-canada","tag-david-magennis","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-frank-chan","tag-gaan","tag-honey-home-decoration-and-design","tag-hong-kong","tag-ie","tag-ikea","tag-ireland","tag-japanese-aesthetic","tag-japanese-aesthetics","tag-lock-and-leave-unit","tag-mary","tag-muji","tag-onao","tag-shigeru-uchida","tag-tsim-sha-tsui-flat","tag-uchida-design"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}