Literally meaning “borrowed scenery” and more frequently employed in the design of gardens, the age-old East Asian principle, shakkei, refers to the art of creating an environment with said scenery as a backdrop. In the case of this 5-room resale flat, the panoramic view of a dense forest serves as both the background and the inspiration.
The original layout was modified to accommodate an island counter that sits right by the front door, essentially reducing the sizes of the study and the kitchen.
Black frames surround the entrances of these two rooms as though they were photo frames capturing the still beauty of everyday life as the homeowners go about their day. These rooms are finished with sliding half-fluted glass doors that accompany their status as semi-private spaces.
As an extension of the picturesque scene that inspiration was drawn from, the home adopts a woody colour palette of dark brown, olive, and beige along with some mid-century influences. Elegant Spanish floor tiles can be spotted in the foyer and the kitchen, signalling the co-existence between nature and urban living.
The floor in the living room is laid with both dark wood and beige tiles. Like a well-worn path through the forest, the dark wood floor leads everyone from the kitchen to a textured wall of fluted wood panels. The wall acts both as the foreground to the distant landscape and obscures the bedrooms from view, creating a quiet sanctuary only privy to those in the know.
