The Place to Be
Our annual kitchens feature. What more can we say?
COUNTRY CHARM
This home in Victoria’s Yarra Valley was feeling the strain of accommodating the clients’ three boys and extended family, which called for a highly-considered renovation by Chelsea Hing. The home’s country location informed its redesign, which combines sleek modern touches with traditional accents. In the kitchen, this translates to graphic tiles on the walls and kitchen bench contrasted with mesh cupboards that imbue the space with that rustic feel. If this kitchen gives off a lived-in vibe, it’s no mistake – as in the rest of the house, its materials were selected to showcase patina.
SPECS
Tap: Astra Walker Icon in “Brushed Platinum” and Zip HydroTap in “brushed chrome”
Fridge: Fisher & Paykel
Rangehood: Qasair Seneca, Sapphire Range in “Fusion Gold”
Tiles (wall and island benchtop): Patricia Urquiola
Sink: Abey Schock Double Bowl in “Magma”
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
If it wasn’t already clear, this kitchen is all about texture. Wolveridge Architects sought to enliven surfaces in this space to create a tangible, personal experience for occupants. At a glance, this linear kitchen may appear ultra-modern – but it cleverly weaves historical elements into its design. Here, slate, timber and stucco speak to the project’s location on the edge of a heritage precinct in Melbourne’s Ascot Vale. While contemporary in their application, these materials capture the spirit of the area’s past.
SPECS
Cabinetry veneer: Victorian ash with WOCA black stain
Tiles: Anchor Ceramics (to back of island)
Appliances: V-ZUG
MELTING POT
The kitchen of a Moonee Ponds couple had undoubtedly served them well over its 23 years: it had supported the raising of three children and hosting more than 50 resplendent parties where, by all reports, no one left hungry. After such long, dutiful service, a respectful revision to the layout and function of the kitchen was needed – and this is where Cantilever Interiors came in. The clients went for the K3 Kitchen System, looking to Cantilever Interiors’ design service to guide specification of tiles, feature benchtop, stools and lighting options. Crucially, the new kitchen complements the existing home – a renovated bottling dairy – with its neutral palette and thoughtful flourishes like integrated shelving for displaying special treasures.
SPECS
Tap: Sussex Voda in “Brushed Nickel”
Oven: Gaggenau Benchtop: Fibonacci Stone “Ink Blot”
Splashback: Spatula tile in “Bianco” in a mix of Matt and Gloss finish from Tiento
Cooktop: Siemens
Stools: Stripe Stool in “Accoya Silver” by Tait
GOOD BONES
Quite coincidentally, this project by Bryant Alsop was spurred by the Edwardian home’s existing kitchen, which was falling apart. Eventually, both clients and architects resolved that it “would be a waste” to redo the kitchen and stop there – and thus the home’s renovation began. It appears as though the kitchen unfolds in three chapters, arranged vertically; it starts above with exposed trusses of solid Australian hardwood, followed by moody black cabinetry and a splashback of terracotta tile designed by Patricia Urquiola and concludes with the island bench, perched upon red brick legs that lead the eye to rest on timber flooring beneath.
SPECS
Pivot doors: Navurban “Byron Blackbutt”
Pendant: Phoebe LED Pendant from Masson For Light
Rangehood: Qasair Eaton
Cooktop: Smeg “Portofino”
Tap: Brodware City Stik in “Nero”
Cabinetry: Polytec WOODMATT “Black”
BLUR
Neil Cownie Architect sees the kitchen of this WA home as the pinnacle of the project’s overall design ethos. The deliberate blurring between nature and built form is foreshadowed in the kitchen island cabinetwork and benchtop – the latter cantilevered in reference to organic natural forms as well as alluding to a local architectural icon: the concrete kiosk building at Perth’s City Beach. Craftsmanship seeps from the pores of this space, from the recessed stone splashback (replete with radiused joints and brass strips) to seamless joinery (concealing appliances and scullery access), which ties into the timber batten ceiling (fitted with acoustic insulation to minimise noise).
SPECS
Pendant: Potter DS in “Satin White”, Anchor Ceramics and Rakumba
Appliances: Miele
Benchtop: Solid marble single slab, “Statuarietto” (island). Maximum ceramic, colour “Mercury” from Artedomus (rear)
