Hong Kong – The Luna at 18 Lun Fat Street in Wan Chai is the new residential tower from Make Architects for client Vanke Property (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd., which sets a new standard for high-quality serviced apartments in Hong Kong.

Located in the neighbourhood of a former printing works, the practice has used a printing block motif as the inspiration for the facade and interior design and gives the scheme a striking detail that sets it apart from the neighbouring towers.

The slim 29* storey tower contains 105 high-end apartments, including one top-floor luxury penthouse and a residents’ clubhouse. It sits above a dual height podium containing retails and restaurants.

The practice was invited to compete for the interiors and façade design for an existing design, but quickly identified a number of ways to improve the efficiency of both the apartment layouts and the form of the tower itself. Make won the competition with an increased ‘holistic’ role to design the facade and interiors, as well as the architecture and landscaping.

There are three one bedroom apartments and two studio apartments on a typical floor, three slightly larger corner units divided in between by a smaller studio. This layout wraps three corners of the building with the core on the fourth corner. Designed from inside-out as well as the outside-in, the layout maximises cross ventilation and creates a generous sense of light in each apartment. Every typical apartment has a balcony to provide external space – some have two.

* The 4th, 14th and 24th floors of the building, which comprises 32 storeys in total, have been omitted as per usual practice for Hong Kong properties, due to negative connotations associated with the number ‘4’ in local culture.