實現室有限公司 LAAB Limited

michelle and andy came to laab with big plans and a long wish-list for their apartment, asking us to fit a full kitchen, large bathtub, home cinema, gym, cat friendly spaces and plenty of storage into just 309 sqft.
the apartment was so small, because the couple wanted to live in the heart of hong kong, central district. hong kong is already one of the most expensive places in the world to live, and nowhere is this truer than in central. given the choice of putting all of their resources and gaining an extra 30-50sqft or saving some of their budget for a groundbreaking interior design that would create the feeling of much more space, the couple chose to go with design.
to realise their ambitious plans, our team at laab had to think beyond static spaces. we began considering time as a factor, eventually designing the space around a “form follows time” philosophy, which means that spaces open and close depending on the purposes needed at that particular time. this is best demonstrated by the bathtub area of the apartment.

since 9gag’s establishment in 2008, netizens’ life has become lighter and definitely more fun. 9gag is one of the leading online social platforms to share fun and laughters. while 9gag is delivering humors to millions of netizens worldwide, laab architects takes up the responsibility to design a fun and elegant new 9gag office.
inside an industrial high-rise in hong kong, laab’s design turned a former mini-storage warehouse into an edgy office with plenty of natural light showering through the persevered perimeter windows. inspired by 9gag’s web and app interface, laab designed a minimalist black and white interior juxtaposing against the raw industrial shell that was preserved as artifact and curiosity for the past.
to align with 9gag’s vision, transparency, sharing, and the sense of community are the keywords for the design strategy. the over 5000-square-feet floor is curated as three major areas: “9park”, “9desks” and “9sheds”.

the project is an expansion of an existing bank building, by adding two cubic buildings and a single storey central building. one facade of both cubic buildings are set-back on the top two floors, in order to create an outdoor balcony as well as breaking down the heaviness of the cube. the central building accommodates public programmes under a transforming canopy envelop, while connecting the three main buildings to the entrances, the carpark and an outdoor terrace that overlooks the city.

the summer reading house is a project we designed for eslite, a taiwanese bookstore that was recently introduced to hong kong. to create “nature” within a shopping plaza, we weaved three basic natural elements – wood, light, and shadow in the design of the two reading houses – “cherry” and “white-oak.”
“cherry” and “white-oak” harmoniously stood in the atrium of taikoo plaza, embracing the natural sunlight that project through the glass ceiling. these two reading houses not only created reading and recreational space for mall strollers, but also defined the thematic zoning, circulation, and spatial sequence. “cherry house” was an adult reading room built with twisted ridge geometry, creating a dynamic and captivating interior experience. the bookshelves held the neighboring frames together for lateral stabilization while at the same time displaying the best-selling books. “white-oak house” was a kids’ playroom. the slide and reading rake combined reading and playing space to accommodate different moods.

kaleidome is a public art installation by laab at a local town park in hong kong.
kaleidome reflects a blossom of light-and-shadow interplay, offering constantly changing moments that captivate the souls of urban strollers. in this public artwork, viewers are also creators. together, they make various compositions of color-tinted reflections that transform the empty plaza into a flourished garden.
kaleidome is composed of 242 polyhedral cells of polished-stainless-steel mirror. each reflective cell is a small window that frames the environment and multiples the vista. like a kaleidoscope, it shuffles the images of river, trees, buildings, passers-by and flowers in the air, and tints the concrete plaza into a flourished place.
looking at the oculus, you will discover a network of veins composed of ultra-thin, almost invisible polygon profiles, visually juxtaposing the tree branches in the sky. the cells packed in a curvilinear form also produce a dynamic visual effect, as they oscillate between opaque and transparent in viewers’ eyes.
the project crosses the boundary between art and architecture. pushing against the limit of height, area and budget, our team maximized the volume in a dome structure with minimum material consumption. every edge or corner was carefully polished to ensure that it is kid-friendly.

a home at park haven, located at the edge of hong kong’s busiest commercial district causeway bay, is now reconceived as an urban retreat.
keshia, a globetrotting dining and travel writer, had commissioned hong kong interior design architect laab and creative studio stylo vision for design and curation of her new million-dollar, 400-square-feet apartment at park haven.
in a careful blend of tranquil blue and harmonious green, the bedroom wall now complements the smoky walnut bed platform – a secret door to storage while allowing the widest possible horizon of the room. four sliding doors flexibly expand and merge the bedroom with the living space, seamlessly adjoining both spaces and creating an effluence of simpatico. digitally engraved on the door is a ripple pattern that captures the moment when a droplet of morning dew quietly free-falls into the water.

located at the yoho mall in yuen long, hong kong, a residential area where many young families reside, “playable art” was an interactive artwork that combines “arts”, “fun” and “community”.
laab believes that arts and architecture should not be something that are out of touch. with this principle, we created “playable arts” to enhance not only human interaction but also interaction between humans and arts as well. we also want to change the idea that “playing” is only for kids because adults too, deserve fun. as a result, we created a set of interactive artwork that invites “kidults” (i.e., adults and kids) to play with our artwork.
in this outdoor space, we used the architecture languages of dots, ovals, and spheres to create four pieces of playable art – “color circus”, “flying roof”, “infinite loop”, “rocking boom”.

laab shares with hermes the passion for creative craftsmanship and meticulousness to perfect every detail. they intended to create not only a special art windows but a captivating experience for any visitors.
in this series of “air craft”, we presented a story through the art windows for each city: “rendezvous” in taipei, “leviators” in tokyo, “ocean legend” in guam.