Exercises

Room to move

Finding a spacious apartment in Hong Kong is not only difficult, but very expensive. One creative architect has found a way to turn his small Hong Kong flat into a roomy living space. Read the story from the Bangkok Post to find out more.

In just 32 square metres of space, Gary Chang has created a home with 24 rooms, including a steam room and home cinema. The 46-year-old architect turned the tiny flat that he has occupied since the age of 14 into an example of making the best use of a small space.

"Anybody can look at their home more carefully and work out ways to optimise their resources, and space is a resource," Chang said. "There is no use trying to make your home a perfect show place, while at the same time not using the space properly."

ALL IN ONE

Chang dealt with the lack of room in his flat by replacing the walls with a series of sliding units, hung from metal tracks on the ceiling. The units can be moved to form a variety of different rooms. The partitions hide drawers for clothes, shelves for toiletries and racks for thousands of CDs and DVDs.

Chang's flat can be one big, open studio, or with very little effort, a cosy area of fold-down seats and beds. By grabbing a handle near his wall-mounted television, Chang can move the wall across the granite floor to the centre of the room, revealing a kitchen and a folding worktop behind.

LONG-TERM LIVING

Chang has spent many years reinventing his small corner of an old 19-storey tower block in Hong Kong's busy Sai Wan Ho district. Chang's experiment in flexible living began after he graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1987.

"When I graduated, my parents moved out of this flat and my mother encouraged me to buy it," Chang said.

LIVING IT UP

Chang has renovated his flat four times, on each occasion with a bigger budget and more innovative approach. He has now turned his tiny HK$350,000 (1.59 million baht) apartment into a luxurious space worth around 45.8 million baht.

Exercises

Read the story. Then, answer the following reading comprehension questions.

1. Who owned the apartment before Gary?
2. How did Gary manage to fit 24 rooms into one apartment?
3. What does Gary think space is?
4. How many times has Gary renovated his apartment?

	spacious (adj): large and with plenty of space for people to move around in flat (n): a set of rooms for living in, including a kitchen, usually on one floor of a building roomy (adj): having a lot of space inside optimise (v): to use something in the best possible way partition (n): a wall or screen that separates one part of a room from another reveal (v): to show something that previously could not be seen encourage (v): to persuade somebody to do something by making them believe that it is a good thing to do renovate (v): to repair and paint an old building, a piece of furniture, etc. so that it is in good condition again innovative (adj): introducing or using new ideas, ways of doing something, etc. luxurious (adj): very comfortable; containing expensive and enjoyable things