What a mix, a incredibly commanding view, a home where one of our most iconic films was made in Mad Max and a famous Australian - Janine Allis from Boast Juice and the Shark Tank. Janine went into a major renovation of this iconic home and new that planning was key to success. Throw into the mix that the home & client was situated in Victoria and Minosa based in Sydney...the challenge was set for us to come up with a kitchen design that did not command the space rather this modern kitchen design had to sit in the space a kitchen that disappeared and could appear when needed.
Description
of the House, its local & occupants
This 70’s weatherboard home featured
in one of Australia’s most unforgettable films – Mad Max. Held by the present-day owners for the last
14 years this was to be the homes 2nd renovation in that time.
The family consisted of two
professional well-known business professionals’ The Allis family and their five children ranging
from 5 to 22 years of age. Their relax
time at this property was taken very seriously.
The
Brief
The kitchen was to be centre of
the family home, as the client understood materials and wear ability well was
in the hospitality industry the space needed to be well
CLIENT REQUIREMENTS:
· Hub of home
· Relaxed feel to overall
design of space
· Ocean views had to
be the focus
· Entertained on
occasion, one big do at least once a year
· Kitchen had to
reveal itself when required
· White palette and
natural stone accents
· Good quality large
commercial style work surfaces
· Cater to large
shopping buys especially during holiday season,
· Used for work
gatherings on occasion
· Lockable areas
just in case it was holiday let
· Good quality
appliances
· Breakfast bar
sitting face to face
· Understated
pendant lights
· No downlights
CONSTRAINTS:
-
· Initial architectural
plans indicated location of kitchen and lounge away from the view
· Harsh weather –
fittings and fixtures need to hold up,
· Clients interior
colour palette,
· One
wall of full height glass,
· Low
head height in proposed area,
· Our imagination – apparently…
Design Statement -
How the requirements of the client brief were achieved & problems solved
The challenges of this space where few, a commanding
view of the Southern Ocean, two walls of glass and a client that wanted
something different but did not want anything “showy” it had to be understated
and not take from the real hero of the space….that view!
The designers had to reconfigure the entire layout as
the original design from the architect had the lounge where the kitchen is now
home and vice versa. By relocating the kitchen to the western wall it solved
many problems, it allowed the view to play a larger part of day-to-day life in
the spaces. When sitting on the lounge you now addressed the Ocean, when in the
kitchen you also stood front on, Mirror was placed behind the cooktop for
obvious reasons.
The client had a real desire for everything to have a
home and not be “on display” so the designer’s chose to conceal most of the day
to day elements thru pocket door systems, this allows the kitchen to open
depending on function. The three sections to the left of the Fridges house a
small appliance cabinet which is home to the much loved Thermo mix, next to
this is the bar area that serves drinks when entertaining and to the end is the
breakfast cabinet. By bringing these elements out of the standard working
triangle we have created an active and passive zoning to the kitchen space. The
passive areas can work with out the interruption of the active area.
A hurdle in the design process was the decreased
height on the cooktop run, the plans had been approved by council and we could
not raise the height of the windows so we chose to install a pop up rangehood
that comes out of the raised section of the splashback. The raised step in the
splashback has many functions, it houses the pop up rangehood, it acts as a
shelf when cooking and it also gets the mirror further away from the cooking
zone.
The Barazza cooktop was chosen, as we did not want to
see the cooktop so it is sunk into the benchtop. This allowed the designer to
increase the height of the benchtop as the trivets are not pushing up the
elbows when cooking.
To make this cooking section look like it was always
meant to be there, the designers chose to wrap this section with the Calcutta
marble the client adored. This ties together the island and tall wall section.
The island unit was the last element to be designed as
the function of the cooking took precedence, with this function solved it came
to cleaning, a long island now could reside with the change of location, it
allowed for the a informal sitting area at the end of the island unit with face
to face contact. The long benchtop is also great for those larger gatherings.
The Calcutta marble was book matched and wraps around
the island unit, concealing it and creating a striking feature to the space. A
recessed LED section has been routered out of the stone and angled to push
light across the benchtop, as one of the largest considerations when working
with a view & glass is the lighting.
The rule of thumb with lighting, glass, views and
night is what ever you do to the front you have to do to the back in order to
see thru the glass at night, if you do not the glass will become a mirror and
you will only see your reflection. With this in mind, task lighting is recessed
into sections for energy efficacy but also to prevent the light directly
hitting the glass.
What is created is an integrated space that allows the
Southern Ocean and its ever-changing appearance to be the hero with a space, a
space that opens and closes to suit the function required. Understated elegance
See the Parents Retreat design here
