Wai Tsui, founder of the digital platform Hiking Patrol, resides just outside Oslo with his family, surrounded by forests and mountains. Their 1970s concrete house features a unique interior where original elements meet carefully curated pieces, including designs from the Danish brand Muuto.
Residents:
Wai Tsui, founder of Hiking Patrol, lives with his partner, Adeline Hermier, and their son, Lian, in a 1970s teak-paneled house just a stone’s throw from Oslo. Nestled at the edge of a forest, the home’s interior exudes an eclectic, carefully curated, and lived-in charm.
OUTDOOR ADVENTURES play a crucial role both in Wai Tsui’s life and in his company Hiking Patrol.
Two years ago, Wai, Adeline, and Lian were searching for a new home when they fell in love with a modernist concrete house just outside Oslo. The house features an open terrace, large windows, and a garden that opens to the forest, giving Wai the perfect opportunity to run in the mountains, take his son sledding, or simply sit by the living room fireplace playing with Legos.
This home is a joyful blend of indoor and outdoor living.
Can you 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 colorway. 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 in your home?
“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.”
Seems like you live with one foot in the city and one in the countryside.
“The first thing that caught our attention about this house was actually the backyard. I can see the forest from our terrace. During the summer we have deers coming into the backyard in the morning, eating the grass – and there’s a small mountain close by where I can go running. I travel a lot. I go to London to work for three days every month, and then I go to Japan twice a year. But I like to be at home. It’s really quiet in Oslo, so it’s not as stressful an environment here.”
“The first thing that caught our attention about this house was actually the backyard. I can see the forest from our terrace.”
What kind of role do the outdoors play in your daily life?
“I am outside every day. I always take my kid to kindergarten, and after that, I go work out. It's a little bit slippery in the wintertime with the snow, so I normally train in the gym, but I love to run every day when I can. It's nice because it's so close to me, I don’t have anything holding me back. That's been important for me because I work in some stressful environments.”
How did you end up founding Hiking Patrol?
“I started Hiking Patrol in 2017 as a curation account for outdoor lifestyle exploration, but I just did it for me and my friends. Then we started to work more like a creative agency, collaborating with brands, doing some campaigns and shoots. Over the past couple of years, we’ve started to work on product collaborations too, at the intersection of lifestyle and fashion. As well as clothing and footwear I work with furniture. I love interior design. So, I’m trying to create this universe, working on projects that I am passionate about. Everything happens very organically.”
Do you have some kind of weekend rituals?
“We are mostly together, all three of us, and on Saturdays and Sundays we spend most of our time in the living area in the middle of the house. We play with Lego, do puzzles, play with Play-Doh, try not to watch too much television. Everyone sits on these floor pillows, and my girlfriend always makes Norwegian waffles with brown cheese and jam. Then when we put Lian to bed, we have our moment in the living room. So, we spend most of the time downstairs. I normally also come down to work here, rather than staying in the office, because I like to be in this space.”
What does home mean to you?
“Home is love. Warmth, gathering, creating memories. We have a lot of family happenings here. It's a space of creativity. Home for me is also a place where I feel secure, but also where I learn about myself, because I spend a lot of time here. Working freelance, I have time to reflect on things – how I can be better as a human, or how I can strive to be better, evolve, and educate myself. The journey starts in the home.”
Get inspired by Muuto
Kink vase
Ridge vase
Mere bowl
Strand table lamp
Workshop chair
Connect sofa
Relevo rug
Wave tray
See also:
Text: Maisie Skidmore Images: Anne Valeur Edit: Nora Uotila