‘I think we will live here forever’: this house in Tai Wai was revamped for a family yearning for a laid-back Australian lifestyle
Feeling hemmed in by Covid restrictions several years ago, Alan Lau toyed with swapping his family’s Mid-Levels flat for the laid-back way of life he had enjoyed in Brisbane, Australia, where he had worked decades earlier and still has business interests.
His wife, Lydia, having studied in Sydney, understood the attraction.
However, not wishing to transplant their two adolescent children and leave a large extended family behind, the couple reached a compromise. As much as possible, they’d try to replicate in Hong Kong the relaxed lifestyle synonymous with Australia.
A three-storey attached house in Tai Wai, complete with outdoor terrace and pool, hit the mark. With 2,100 sq ft of internal space to work with, plus an outdoor area of about 1,200 sq ft, Ivan Wong Wei-him, architect, designer and founder of In-between Architects, would realise the couple’s vision during a year-long renovation, completed in May 2024.
