When architect turned investment banker Winston Lee bought his French Concession apartment three years ago, he knew he wanted the renovations to focus on the lighting design. After all, lighting is the Taiwanese native’s business; he’s the founder and CEO of Luminaire Holdings, a company that develops LED lighting solutions internationally. Finding an interior designer in Shanghai who was up to the task of illuminating his home was no easy task, but a thorough search landed him Hank Chao of Mohen Design and a match made in lighting design heaven was made.

“Light is very important to me. The thing I really liked about Hank is that he’s a lighting architect,” says Lee. This pair got straight down to business, turning Lee’s dream home into a reality and nine months later, the concept of ‘Space Winding’ was born. The apartment became a canvas for the two artists, and light was their paint as they brushed warm beige tones on to the walls and allowed a muted glow to bathe the apartment, an effect that Lee says creates “a very liveable space.”

Space Winding is an exercise in innovative lighting. Beams of light radiate from the floor upward, cascading up to highlight coconut shell walls and leather-fronted cabinets that hide walls of storage space. To maximise the apartment’s high ceilings, light fixtures are rarely installed directly in the ceiling. Instead Lee opted for oversized lamps like the Indonesian one that illuminates the custom-made couch in his living room and cove lighting to softly add new dimensions throughout the apartment, most notably in his Japanese tea room.

“I’d always wanted a tranquil place to sip tea and play instruments,” Lee explains. “And this tea room became my ‘Super Potato Fantasy.’” Inspired by the internationally renowned Japanese interior design firm, Lee wanted to bring in a single piece of granite to serve as the back wall, but logistically, it was an impossible feat, so the stone was cut into 12 blocks and hand-chiselled. A splash of light flows down the wall from the fixtures above, creating a waterfall of beams that amplifies the textured effect of the granite. Illuminated shelves of antique tchotchkes, including a handful of 1,200 year old, gold-plated Japanese knickknacks and antique tea sets, separate the tea room from the kitchen, allowing the space to breathe life into the rest of the apartment.

The illuminated hallway leads to the softly-lit bedroom, the real triumph of the apartment. Furniture seems to float on light and blonde wood in this delicately-organised space. Floor fixtures shine upward on to Japanese screens that mask the expansive closet space while more cove lighting draws the eye to the island bed. The windowed bathroom inflates the room, allowing a glimpse of the Japanese style bathtub that shines from around the toekick to create the illusion that the tub is drifting on a sea of fire.

Web: www.mohen-design.com