Beautiful Basalt

About the space:

This large space is within a detached, double fronted victorian home in Ballyholme. The stunning space is home to a young family of five. The room you can see with grey sliding doors is a new extension, with the kitchen being the link between the existing victorian dining room, and new garden view space. 

The brief was to design a link that was not ‘too kitcheny’ because of the open plan nature of the spaces. It may sound tricky to design a kitchen that isn’t kitcheny, but it is a pretty simple concept. 

There are two ways to achieve this: Either design a kitchen that has a ‘furniture feel’ (typically a shaker style, with posts and tongue & groove) or alternatively to design a kitchen that is an architectural statement.

The home owners love a mix of modern and traditional elements, so we relished the opportunity to be starkly modern. This meant we were able to create a space where the kitchen felt like part of the structure rather than a piece of furniture. The striking basalt ‘appliance wall’ feels more like a panelled feature wall than a kitchen. Touch screen mirrored appliances and the absence of handles help achieve this look.

The requisite island houses a boiling tap (alleviating the need for a kettle),a waste disposal unit (to eliminate food waste) the dishwasher and bins. Everything in this space is just a few steps away, and the dishwasher can be unloaded by simply pivoting and restocking in to the drawers behind.

The ‘appliance wall’ at the rear is home to everything food related. Fresh & frozen food is stored in the integrated appliances (a full fridge, and full freezer). The main cooking functions are on the back wall, with a single oven, combination microwave oven (oven, microwave and grill) and warming drawer. Items relating to the ovens such as baking trays are stored below in hidden pull-out drawers.

There are also two larders with pull-out drawers to store all ambient and long-life foods such as tins, cereals etc. Unpacking the shopping is straight forward as everything is put away in the one area. 

The hob run has twelve practical drawers housing everything from wine glasses to saucepans. Drawers are much more accessible than wall cabinets, as everything is telescopic and comes out to lift easily, so this space has no wall cabinets. A simple glass splashback completes the minimalist look, and is easy to clean.