Hong Kong Top Interior Designer - At home with André Fu

The Hong Kong home of influential designer André Fu is eclectic, elegant and designed to celebrate connection with nature

André Fu is one of interior design’s most influential figures. The Hong Kong-born, Cambridge-educated architect has set a new standard in luxurious lifestyles with his interiors for some of the world’s most acclaimed hotels and restaurants. However, when it comes to his own home, he says people are often surprised to find it so informal and eclectic. ‘The apartment is definitely not a stylised version of one of my hotel interiors. I have some of my favourite prototypes from previous projects, but I have quite wide-ranging tastes and my home reflects that,’ he says.

It was the panoramic sweeping sea views from the Southside apartment’s elegant seven-metre- high windows that initially attracted him. ‘It’s very unusual in Hong Kong to have a duplex apartment so elegantly divided over two levels, where the upper level overlooks the double- height living and dining area below,’ he notes. ‘And because the windows go all the way up to the ceiling, both floors have the benefit of the view and natural daylight.’

Fu stripped back the original interiors, removing the wall between the kitchen, entrance and what is now the study, opening up the first floor so that it functions as one continuous room, and revealing the full expanse of window framing the sea and sky. ‘The spaces flow into one another and create a strong dialogue with the outdoors,’ he explains. A newly installed oak staircase leads upstairs, where the three bedrooms have been reconfigured into a cosy guestroom and the master bedroom.

If there’s a philosophy reflected in this urban haven, it’s Fu’s predilection for uncluttered comfort, natural materials and soft earthy colours, all delivered with sophisticated modernity. Textures play an equally important role in the composition, where a restrained palette of pale oak and marble complements the sense of living with nature, while ivory walls and simple window blinds form the backdrop to his clean, clutter-free modern aesthetic.

But it’s the unusual art and the decorative objects collected on his travels that offer a window into the eclectic nature of Fu’s personal tastes. He is naturally drawn to the bold, clean lines of sculptural pieces like the bronze Ginkgo bench by François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, and the striking silhouette of a blue and white porcelain sculpture by Li Xiaofeng. Also among his collection of artworks are a geometric sculpture in huanghuali wood by Ai Weiwei and a pure geometric form of a man, realised in steel rods, by Antony Gormley

Throughout the home are elements and objects that reflect Fu’s fascination with the artisanal elements of modernism and its Art Deco influence, as well as his passion for Japanese artistry. This is demonstrated in a piece from the most recent André Fu Living collection, titled Art Deco Garden: a hand-painted panel and screen realised in collaboration with luxury wallcovering brand de Gournay that’s inspired by a fusion of Art Deco and Japanese Zen gardens. The panel’s sinuous gold and silver gilding — which also appears on furnishings — makes a bold, vividly patterned architectural statement.

But what Fu especially enjoys is the quiet calm of watching the sun set over the South China Sea. ‘As soon as I get home, I switch off. I find it incredibly relaxing,’ he says. ‘For me, home is not an idealised image, and it’s important that interiors gradually evolve over time. There has to be an emotional connection.’

Text / Catherine Shaw