When award-winning local design firm JWCC Architecture first took on the project to re-design and fit-out a 5,000 square foot, five-bedroom apartment on Nam Van lake, their first challenge was to better merge the functions of the different spaces together and to address the relatively low ceiling heights.
“This apartment has a big floor plate, but it was made up of pockets of space with little flow in design,” explains JWCC’s co-founder Principal Christine Choi, “especially in residential units, it’s important to enable a smooth flow from one space to another. If that works, then the whole experience tells a story and is a continuous journey that is most comfortable for the inhabitants. To do this we used repetitive elements throughout the apartment; the marble, the mosaic, the brass trim and carefully considered the placement of art.”
Beautiful pale, solid oak wood flooring has been laid in a herringbone pattern throughout the apartment that enhances this flow.
“And for the ceilings, we painted these in Venetian plaster decorative paint, which is reflective and provides a sense of lightness and height.”
“We spent a lot of time on the design, about three months in all, with meetings every two weeks and lots of discussions over Wechat!” says Christine. “Every detail, including how high each wardrobe shelf was to be, was covered, and once the design was approved, construction took about three months.”
New owners and newlyweds Mian and Louis were clear in what style they wanted for their first home together.
“They wanted a classical, luxury theme with a contemporary touch,” describes Christine. “So our job as designers was to blend this with a number of contemporary features that gives the apartment freshness and modernity, in keeping with them being a young couple in their early 30’s.”
Together with JWCC’s co-founder Jimmy Wardhana and the team, they set about taking traditional elements and simplifying them, and using contemporary in place of conventional materials. Gold stainless steel and brass trim details applied through the interior fit-out to the loose furniture; cabinet doors, brass studs on wall panels, sofa arms and dining chair backs have been used.
“The gold accent makes a space ‘pop’,” smiles Christine.
A large built-in salt water fish tank catches one’s eye on entering the apartment. Floor-to-ceiling wall paneling – concealing storage and shoe cabinets – in indigo dark blue with brass trim and studs, forms the entrance lobby. And cleverly designed to break up the dining and living areas is a console table – the top in white with black patterned Italian Carrara marble – with more useful storage underneath.
To the right is the dining space, with Carrara marble used for the back wall and repeated again for the very long dining table top that seats up to 10. To the left, the living room, balcony, and sensational unobstructed view of Nam Van Lake. In the original design of the building, a large air-conditioning compressor was located on the balcony which took up space and was noisy and hot in the summer. JWCC removed this and installed a Daikin concealed air-conditioning VRV (variable refrigerant volume) system, which uses only two outdoor units located out of sight at the back of the apartment. With new slide back doors that open wider, the balcony is now much more spacious and comfortable to enjoy.
“All the furniture was specifically designed and custom-made for the apartment,” Christine says. “This enabled us to use a mix of materials, and include elements such as marble, brass trim and walnut wood, for example, in the side coffee table, which is carried through into the other pieces of furniture”. The sofa is a contemporary take on a very traditional Chesterfield; the brass studs on the arms are repeated on the backs of the dining chairs and on the wall panels.
Of the five original bedrooms, now converted into four, two guest rooms are at the back of the apartment. The master bedroom and one entertainment area off the living room (for both humans and two much-loved cats!) face the front lake views.
Separating the dining room from a private section of study and master suite is a strikingly handsome sliding door in a floral mosaic art of gold, greys and whites. Here we see a colour change in the wall paneling from indigo to white, with brass trim continuing through.
The master bedroom is spacious and includes a walk-in wardrobe section and a bathroom with a bath on a raised platform and double vanities. Repetition of Carrara marble on one wall and another gorgeous floral mosaic on the other, is an example of how the JWCC team wanted to help make spaces flow into each other. A dramatic Spanish ‘leaf’ tile covers the far back wall, and this is teamed with taupe-coloured horizontal textured tiles. An altogether luxurious and decadent feel is achieved.
Moving towards the back of the apartment, a corridor connects the two guest bedrooms, with a guest bathroom at one end that is yet another visual feast of mosaic art. Repetition of Carrara marble, and brass accent pieces in the vanity pull together the themes in this home and continue the story line.
The Pronorm Kitchen is from Germany; compact, functional, with combo microwave and oven, a 2-ring electric and gas cooker top (all from ‘Cristal’ in Hong Kong) and a ‘10 Zone’ exhaust. Corrian has been used for the countertops: “durable and very flexible with no joints and therefore easy to keep clean,” explains Christine, “and the grey mirror splashback gives reflective light making the space appear bigger”.
Through innovative, thoughtful design, and a lot of careful attention to detail, a sense of space, glamour and sanctuary within the hustle and bustle of down town Macau has been achieved in this very lovely home.
JWCC Architecture has been the recipient of numerous awards, including:
*International Property Awards for Architecture, Multiple Residence Macau (One Guia Hill in 2014 and The Studio in 2016)
* Business Awards of Macau – Excellent Award for SME
* Guangzhou Design Week, 40-under-40 China (Macau) Young Design Talents, 2018
