226 Hollywood Road

Studioilse's TwoTwoSix project in Hong Kong addresses real life, then upgrades it.

Ilse Crawford's Studioilse recently collaborated with Hong Kong property developer Blake on the design of TwoTwoSix, an apartment building on Hollywood Road in Hong Kong’s cultural district.

This landmark building aims to connect the scale and soul of the area while also enhancing its identity.

As a concept, TwoTwoSix has a sense of solidity and permanence, from architecture to interiors, with an emphasis on it being a place that is inhabited with a connection to what is happening on the street, something very unconventional in Hong Kong developments.

Both Blake and Studioilse wanted to use this project to revive neighbourhood living. Architecturally it was important to Studioilse that the building fits in with its surroundings and that the distinction only being in the attention to detail.

TwoTwoSix is a five-storey development with an apartment on each floor. Studioilse explains: “The ‘one room living’, uses sliding walls so that it can evolve with the life of the owner, sociable one minute, intimate the next.”

The brick exterior is also used inside the apartment to create a sense of continuity. The interiors have a worldly appeal to them, which is ideal as Hong Kong is popular with world travelers.

Watch the Talk with Ilse Crawford