House White

The House White is a design & renovation project located on Lantau Island within a small local community. It is the architect’s own dwelling, with its almost off grid and disassociated location, the house is a perfect retreat for family and friends.

The project is an attempt to ascertain an intangible attestation of interest and ideas developed over decades of architectural practice. The epiphany from living the speed paced rhythms of city life that inevitably created a kind of resistance, opposition and struggle, that life at mid age deserves a spiritual, physical and mental sanctuary.  The antidote is a deliberately created sanctuary resort stripped to basic essentials that one can focus on recharging, heal and refreshing mind, body and mental health, fostering deep meaningful experiences. 

Inspired by the ideas of simplicity and purity, all interior materiality, fixtures, furnitures are in their simplest whites, essential services such as air conditioning, light fittings, electrical conduits, are stripped and exposed in the simplest and basic treatment. Conventional false ceiling is rejected instead simply white painted concrete ceiling acknowledging the texture of the original structural elements not only physically increases the sense of volume, but also a kind of luxury of simplicity without excessive packaging. The only palette used in the project is light, creating soft shadows from specific skylight, shades and soothing tones from light filtered blinds, indicated time is merely indicative, and slowed. Dimension and sizes of all built in elements such as panels, tiles and railings, are in their standard industry modules. 

Adhering to the standard system invoked a sense of duality, the system that responds to the fundamental needs is contrasting the essential basic needs and overly decorative elements merely for visual feast, the ideas of prefabrication and bespoke, spirituality by ordinary exemplifies a different kinds of bespoke and customisation to our built environment. 

Private Residence

200 Sqm

Lantau Island, Hong Kong

Completed 2021