Apartment X

Right in the heart of Beijing, with an open view of the CCTV tower, the clients purchased this property as a couple entering into a new chapter of their lives. Both of them, avid travellers professionally and leisurely, will share a life child-free with two dogs.

With a common interest in memorabilia, the couple has accumulated an abundance of manufactured products from all over the world. Without much experience in home furnishing, the clients hired Office AIO looking for a refined perspective to transform their city home.

The Tranquil Base of Clarity

Upon entry, a foyer sets the tone of this 135m² light-filled apartment. Opposite the windows, a continuous partition of bespoke modular panels encloses the service and storage areas. A cloakroom installed with display shelves showcases a rotating selection of the couple's collection in the living room. Behind the hidden doors are a guest bathroom and a generous walk-in wardrobe. This unity offers an ordered and minimal look that conceals the many belongings behind, setting itself as the house's elegant backdrop.

On the side of the windows are all the living and social areas, each enjoying ample lighting from its large openings overlooking the city. At the end of the hall, the couple's tranquil room takes advantage of the apartment's whole depth. A bed sits on an elevated carpeted step with a corner window overlooking the city. A study shares the space across the room, where modular shelves denoting a connection with the bed. 

A Deluxe Social Dining Room at Home

Food is another passion of the couple, whose focus lies in the process of sharing and socialising. A dining area takes up the space relinquished by an adjacent bedroom previously planned in the apartment. Plenty of rooms are reserved around the U-shaped kitchen, allowing more working and walking areas for socialising between dining and cooking. 

Complemented by an airy table and double doors made with glass, the dark shade kitchen establishes itself as the heart of the apartment's life. While its guest walks through the white hallway, the dining room strikes as a fine-dining restaurant's private room, providing a deluxe ambient in a casual domestic environment.

A Practice in Designing the Modern Home


New to the world of possibilities with home design, the clients wish to be inspired rather than dictate. Office AIO exercises the freedom with an approach between minimalistic and classic. From hardware, furniture to fittings, the selection and customisation are balanced with interest and timeliness. Globular metallic elements are echoed throughout the apartment, from wall pendants to floor lights, to doorknobs, visually connecting different rooms and adding a sense of playfulness to represent the clients' personalities. 

The design process was a mutual practice. It inspired the clients to discover the beauty of tailor-made interiors in contrast to their yearning for the outer world's mass-produced. It was also one for us, the designer, to ponder what modern living is to our contemporaries - a restful space that brings attraction and interaction back home.

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  • Apartment X
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