The world outdoors is important for Wai Tsui, the founder of Hiking Patrol. So, two years ago, when he, his partner Adeline Hermier, and their baby son Lian were looking for a new home, they were immediately drawn to a modernist concrete house a stone’s throw from Oslo, Norway. From its open terrace, large windows, and garden backing onto the forest, the Norwegian creative can go running in the mountains, take his son sledding in the snow, or simply sit around the fire playing with Lego in the central living space. It’s a happy intersection of indoors and outdoors.
His love of the outdoors is a value Wai shares with the creative community he has built through Hiking Patrol, the digital space he founded back in 2017. A few years on, technically superior garments and design objects made to facilitate a life lived outside remain in high demand.
Tell us about the house you live in.
It's an old concrete house from 1970, that I bought two years ago. We kept the old teak panels and these white stone brick walls. We even kept the bathroom, with its orange and brown colourway. We added concrete floors. There are still a lot of things we want to do to the house, but we will keep it mostly as it is. I enjoy living here. It's my creative space, for sure.
How do you choose the pieces you live with?
I like Japanese and mid-century design; you can see the personalities of Adeline and I in our interior. I try to purchase products that last, so they can move from home to home. Most of this furniture has been with me for almost ten years. Adeline makes ceramics, so we have a lot of her ceramics at home. Sometimes they will be here for a few weeks, then they’ll sell, and we’ll have a new one.
We combine light interiors with wooden panels, but we have a steel kitchen as well, so we break up the hard feeling with warmth and light. Because I spend so much time every day here, it's almost like my playground for inspiration. If I get creative block because I’m spending too much time online, I go to the shelf and take out an old magazine or go for a walk. I’m always trying to curate the things we have, because you come to a point where you don’t need more stuff. I’m trying to be more selective, to create emotional memories with the stuff we already have.
