Dwellings | Shanghai: Growing Towards the Light

At dusk the sunset washes Shanghai's skyline in layers of deep pink, and even the city's famous trio of towers softens. At six o'clock the star lights on the elevated roads and the exhibition centre come on, right on time. This is the view outside Yu Tingting's bedroom, and the heart of what she loves about this home: a vast, open distance, and a fine, warm present.

In March 2025, YSP design director Yu Tingting and her husband Zhu Zhaoyu ended years of moving from place to place and settled into the first home in Shanghai that is wholly their own. Their two cats claimed it at once, stretching out on the sunlit floor.

The entrance opens straight into the living and dining space. The white sofa in the living room is Dak Haan's Shanjian Sofa, with a black ceramic coffee table by the Italian brand Mogg in front and a hand-knotted rug by the Iranian brand ZAMANI underfoot. Shanjian's soft curves and inset stitching evoke mountain streams, and its separate modules suit time alone or with friends, sitting or reclining.

The green wall at the centre of the room hides a TV cabinet. When friends come over for a film, the doors open and the room becomes a cinema; the cabinets on either side hold a great deal of storage. The wall was hand-finished in textured art paint, and it took several crews before the result was right.

A red Utrecht armchair by Cassina provides the finishing accent.

Light is what Yu Tingting values most in design. Here she organised the whole home around the way plants grow towards light: the cramped three-bedroom, two-living-room layout under the concrete frame was opened up entirely, and guided by the sunlight pouring in from the north and east, the space spreads out like the veins of a leaf. Windows wrap more than 270 degrees, with the skyline on one side and century-old red roofs and greenery close by.

At the centre is the open living and dining room, the home's heart. A huge 304 stainless-steel island and an open kitchen serve Zhu Zhaoyu, who loves to cook and entertain. The bar stools are by the Singaporean brand Mountain Living; the linear pendant over the kitchen is Light X by WUU. Exposed concrete beams form the spine of the space and, with the steel island, balance the warmth of all the timber.

Beside the living and dining area, a multi-purpose room is wrapped in a green velvet banquette, with a Levante pendant by Luceplan and a round table by Fnji. It is a temporary workspace and a place for friends to gather over morning coffee or evening wine, with storage under the seats.

When all the facing sliding doors are open, a long gallery of light runs through the home.

The main bedroom is where Yu Tingting feels most at ease. Study, temporary workspace, bath, walk-in wardrobe and a place to rest are linked by a looping route. The balcony off the bedroom became a study, again with a 270-degree view, and it has become her favourite spot since moving in.

Every piece of timber veneer on the walls and cabinets was chosen by the couple at the factory; the basin and bathroom use natural stone with crystalline wood-like veining, clear as jade. In a home of just over a hundred square metres, a landscape of "stone forest, mountains and sea" has grown.

"I want my home to be a space that can grow," Yu Tingting says.