The Brief
We began working with our clients in the early stages of their new building project having been introduced by a developer who we had worked with before. They knew they wanted a contemporary kitchen and had a good idea of what they wanted in terms of functionality but the layout and finer details were still undecided so we had a lot of flexibility to be creative.
Top of the list was a big island, with a big bank of tall units housing the ovens and fridge etc. They also wanted to explore some concrete-type finishes and maybe some wood as well.
The Design
As always, we started with a list of what the kitchen needed in terms of functionality. In this case, full height integrated fridge, full height integrated freezer, two ovens, a warming drawer, a dishwasher, an induction hob with built in extraction. Oh and don’t forget the boiling tap and a big island with seating!
Whilst no two kitchens are ever the same, this list is fairly typical of a lot of our kitchens these days. Kitchens are big, complicated spaces and they have to do a lot of things well. Figuring out how best this can be achieved in a way that tailors the generic ‘must haves’ into a space that really works to meet the highly individual needs and preferences of our clients is, hopefully, what we do best.
We started with three distinct zones; the island, the tall unit bank and the sink run. Then we worked through various ways to use these areas. Settling on the hob on the island we also added the boiling tap and nice, chunky wooden breakfast bar.
Behind the island, the tall units housed all the appliances along with a larder with pull-out drawers. At the window end we housed the sink and dishwasher, along with a couple of feature open shelves.
How it Worked Out
Aside from just focusing on the layout, we spent a lot of time exploring options for the finishes and materials. Our clients wanted something visually interesting but also hard-wearing and tough enough to handle a busy life with dogs and children. We settled on two variations of the same finish, putty concrete HPL in pearl grey and graphite. This is a laminate door but the texture is so realistic it’s honestly hard to tell. To finish the look we went for Caesarstone Primordia Quartz worktops, again one of the key elements of this particular worktop is the texture.
The overall effect is a very usable kitchen, jam-packed with both storage and functionality. And finished using materials that mean it not only looks great but should be able to handle anything life throws at it.
