LINGUA FRANCA

FOR A YOUNG FAMILY IN HONG KONG, STUDIO KO FASHIONS A SOPHISTICATED AERIE THAT BLENDS THE BEST OF EUROPE AND ASIA

- ALICE CAVANAGH

FOR THEIR FIRST-EVER completed project in Hong Kong, Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty, the duo behind AD100 architecture firm Studio KO, created an elegant and contemporary family home that bridges two worlds, incorporating their expertise in the classic European codes of craft and refinement yet infused with a vibe that felt more authentic to the region.

“It was a real conversation between our two cultures because they didn’t want it to feel too traditionally Asian, but we’re very contextual, and we didn’t want to do a ‘Parisian’ apartment in Hong Kong,” says Fournier of the tension they played with—in which familiar vocabulary is slightly twisted or recast. The duo, who operate out of offices in Paris and Marrakech, found a way to express a sense of place subtly by incorporating colors, including red lacquer and jade green; textures, such as vintage rattan furniture; and nuanced motifs, like the abstract palm-frond pattern in bas-relief plaster that covers the walls of the grand salon.

“They were cautious about it not having a tropical Hong Kong aesthetic, but they are proud of their culture and they brought the way they live to the project,” Marty says. So the touch is light and intentionally so, especially when mixed with imposing marble furniture—such as the Rosso Levanto fireplace and coffee table in the salon—and the classic European feel of French oak herringbone floors throughout.