TrOPICaL traNQUILLItY
Designer Lim Hong Lian’s stylish sanctuary emerges from Singapore’s urban sprawl with a bold aesthetic identity
設計師林豐年的時尚天地憑著出眾美學定位從新加坡城市面貌突圍而出
Stepping into Kevin Chu and his wife Giulia Dibonaventura’s airy and open abode is like falling in love. Everything feels just right – the colours are in perfect harmony, the composition of the furniture and accessories flows, and as your eyes are drawn across the calming sea views of the marina, you feel completely at peace. Sustainable materials fill the space and seamlessly integrate the outdoor surrounds with the interiors, resulting in a relaxing vibe that runs throughout.
This eco-conscious couple, who designed their home together, wanted to make sure the space reflected their lifestyle. Born and raised in Italy, Giulia was familiar with recycling from a young age, when everything was given a second life before it was thrown away. As an architect and founder of
走進Kevin Chu和太太Giulia Dibonaventura的開揚家居就像投進愛海。每事也感覺恰到好處：色彩配搭和諧、傢具與裝飾品無縫過渡，你的目光不期然被平靜的海景所吸引，讓人頓感身心平和。可持續物料套用到空間各處，把戶外天地跟室內裝潢完美揉合，四周洋溢著舒適暖意情調。
對這對環保夫婦來說，共同設計家園時特別希望空間能反映二人的生活方式。成長於意大利的Giulia分享指從年幼起已存有循環再用的觀念，扔掉每件物件前必然細想給予第二重新的機會。專營
COC Design – a firm that specialises in ecological design – Kevin shares that ever since COC was awarded a prize for conceptual architecture focusing on the environment in 2011, he has been moving more and more in this direction. Arguably, COC Design is one of the only studios in Hong Kong that practices eco-design, and Kevin says that the main reason for this is not business, but the environment. "Giulia was also a major influence," says Kevin. Therefore, when they bought this apartment, it was only natural that they wanted the design to be as environmentally-friendly as possible.
"I told Giulia that I wanted everything to be fake in this apartment," explains Kevin. "That meant no real wood and no stone. Nowadays, technology in architecture is so good at mimicking that you don’t need to chop down a tree to feel like you have a piece of wood in your home – you can make something instead. It’s the idea that we shouldn’t need to keep destroying the environment."
The materials he has chosen throughout the the three-bedroom flat are awe-inspiring. Kevin has chosen a recycled particle porcelain (made from construction waste that has been ground down and compressed into a tile with a digitally printed texture on top) for all the floor and wall tiles, and an art piece by Kevin depicting Giulia has been constructed from timber scraps. Aspenite (similar to particle board) has been used in the living room wall while a cork wall has been installed in the master bedroom for its properties of rawness and warmth. The use of recycled materials also extends to the可持續設計公司COC Design的創辦人兼建築師Kevin則表示自2011年COC贏得專注環境建築獎的概念建築殊榮後，便一直往這個方向發展。COC可算是香港專營環保設計的公司之一，Kevin表示這不只為業務，而是為了環境。「Giulia深深影響著我。」Kevin說著，又指出他們的人生都離不開保育議題。因此，購下單位後自然希望盡可能打造出環保設計。
「我跟Giulia說想在單位應用假元素。」Kevin解釋：「就即是不用真木、真石，今天，建築科技極為昌明，已不再需要砍下樹兒才能打造出真木效果，凡事總有取代。概念就是盡可能不再打擾大自然環境。」
這三房單位的精選用料的確教人嘖嘖稱奇——Kevin為地板和牆磚選用了回收再造粒子陶瓷(磨碎了的建築廢料，再壓成磚狀，面層加上數碼印刷質感)，而一幅描繪Giulia的藝術品則由Kevin以木碎和鉛筆建構而成。類同粒子板的Aspenite則活用到客廳牆身，主人房則安裝了一片軟木牆，全因它那原始和溫暖的格調。再造物料亦延伸到傢具；客廳書架以保麗龍製作，每節均可透過連接位繫在一起，而吊燈則以循環再造卡板精製而成，疊放並再以雷射切割成型。
pieces of furniture – the living room bookshelf is made of styrofoam and the pendant lights are made from recycled cardboard stacked together and laser cut into shape.
"The recycling board is something that I thought about 12 years ago in Hong Kong and I tried to pitch it to clients but nobody liked it," recalls Kevin. "Now they are doing it in many shops but I still haven’t seen it used in residential projects." Citing countries in Europe such as Italy and Germany as really leading the way, Kevin recounts his amazement whenever he visits and observes their design practices. "Most people don’t use interior designers and yet, their homes are filled with fresh and visionary eco-conscious ideas." Giulia shares these sentiments: "There’s an artisan in my hometown who makes wooden frames for windows and he uses the leftover bits to create beautiful objects. We were able to bring back some of these ideas and try as much as possible to be consistent and coherent with our design approach."
Kevin and Giulia have converted the spacious rooftop into a vegetable garden, stocked with four planting beds, as well as a
「大概於12年前在香港想到應用回收利用板，提議客人選用但無人問津，他們覺得這些是建議用料，相貌不討好。」Kevin回想道：「現在人們都用到店子裡去了，可惜仍然未見有人活用到住宅呢。」Kevin表示，意大利和德國等歐洲國家在環保意識方面已領先全球，每次到訪意國都不禁被他們的設計方式迷到。「大部分人都不會聘用室內設計師，但意念和環保意識卻是如此清新而強烈。」Giulia身同感受：「我家鄉有位工藝師精製窗戶木框，並以餘下的木屑製作其他美麗精品。我們能把部分意念帶回，再配合自家設計方向，打造出貫徹如一的創作路向。」
vertical herb garden on the wall. They admit they initially knew nothing about gardening, so it has been a continuous learning process but the fruits of their labour are obvious. "Kevin is mainly in charge of the rooftop," says Giulia. "The rooftop and the living room has to be our favourite part of the home.”
As a champion of green living, Kevin reveals there is still a lot of work to be done. "We aren’t so advanced here. For the rooftop, we thought about using turbines to generate power for the whole house but that is illegal here. We thought about using solar power too but that wasn’t allowed either. There are a lot of things I would have pushed a lot further if there weren’t so many restrictions." //
與此同時，Kevin和Giulia把寬廣天台打造成植物花園，放有四片種植床和垂直香草花園牆。他們坦言起初對園藝一竅不通，這場學習旅程的確從不間斷，但投入的努力卻是顯然易見。Giulia說：「Kevin現在可算是主力負責天台空間了。天台和客廳也是我們全屋最愛的地點。」
Kevin表示，香港綠色生活仍需要投入時間與心血。「這兒不算先進發達。我們想過在天台放渦輪機為全屋發電，但卻不合法。太陽能發電方案也不被許可。要是能不受限制，我想做的其實多極了。」//