Hong Kong as a home

Simon Gilkes and Vesna Malesevic moved to Hong Kong from the UK last year with their seven-year-old son Alexander. “We were at a point in our lives when we needed an escape,” says Gilkes, who took up a director position at the city’s new Rosewood Hotel.

Both in their mid-forties, Gilkes and Malesevic swapped an Edwardian flat in Chelsea for a larger, second-storey apartment in a 1920s mansion block in Tai Hang, a residential neighbourhood on Hong Kong Island that perches above the entertainment district of Causeway Bay. “It feels calm up here,” says Malesevic, while standing on her rooftop on a balmy Saturday morning. By day Alexander plays badminton and by night his parents entertain their friends. “We are above the hustle and bustle and we can hear the birds singing in the morning.”

Swiss-born Malesevic spent 15 years as a marketing consultant for Coca-Cola. Now that Alexander is settled at school she is focusing on growing her own events-marketing company. Edge specialises in mega sporting events, such as the summer and winter Olympics. With both events due to take place in the East, Malesevic finds herself in the thick of the action. “So much is happening in Asia sports-wise,” she says.

Basketball courts are located all around hoop-crazed Hong Kong. Since opening in 1980, the rooftop courts at Kai Yip Estate have occupied a lofty place among Kowloon’s basketball community. When One Bite Design Studio was appointed to redesign the space last year, architect and founder Alan Cheung’s game plan was to restore the facility – nicknamed the “golden cage” – to its former glory. Today the 2,700 sq m playground sports the colours of Hong Kong’s neon skyline. “There can never be enough public spaces for people to play and wind down,” says Cheung.

Weave is sewing up the market for co-living. Its second property, a 100-room building in Hung Hom, is due to open in autumn, barely a year after it introduced the communal living concept to the city with a 160-room property in Prince Edward. A third similarly sized site is set to open next year in Sheung Wan – Weave’s first foray on Hong Kong Island.

Sachin Doshi, a former property analyst, developed Weave in 2017. Its existing tenants are 27 years old, on average. More than half of the residents come from overseas and their jobs include junior bankers, international lawyers and tech professionals already a decade into their careers. They are willing to pay a premium on a similar-sized space nearby for the “plug and play” convenience of not having to buy furniture, as well as the availability of an instant community – a bonus for any new arrival in a big city.

“Even though young people live their lives on social media, we’ve found that they want to sit down with their peers and have a proper conversation,” says Doshi. “We could open 10 buildings and fill them in a heartbeat.”