Case study: industrial style with luxury

This 1930s home is given a modern refresh by Such Designs in London, with the sleek, contemporary kitchen placed firmly at the heart of family life

This contemporary kitchen design was an important part of a complete house refurbishment, with the new home-owners keen to ensure the property sits well within its up-and-coming London setting. While modern in feel, a mixture of classic colours and industrial-inspired materials, such as concrete and dark herringbone flooring, give this room a luxury edge.

The flooring is just the beginning though, with the designers offsetting this with dark stained wood veneer Eggersmann cabinetry and Neolith Calacatta porcelain surfaces for the island unit and splashback. The marble-effect surface boasts all the beauty of the real thing, but with none of the drawbacks of such a soft stone.

With the worktops also vein-matched, a quality appearance is achieved, while the dark and sophisticated furniture is enhanced not only by the choice of worktop but also by the abundance of natural light that floods the room thanks to the glass ceiling above and sliding glass doors to one end of the room.

Such has created a light-filled space that is perfect for cooking, dining and relaxing, with clutter kept to an absolute minimum thanks to the bank of storage cleverly incorporated along the back wall, enabling the family to grow into the space. Gaggenau appliances are effortlessly incorporated here for a streamlined finish that wouldn’t look out of place in a professional setting, while the brushed brass Zip tap is a striking addition to the sink, which takes a central position. Smaller appliances, including the toaster, are hidden from view yet easy to access with a bespoke pocket door.

The main feature of the finished space is the island, where five slabs of porcelain have been used to create a unique, angled design to the breakfast bar. Brass pendant lighting above the island is far from an afterthought, tying in perfectly with the tap for a harmonious look.

The design saw the coming together of several materials, which serve to show each other in their best light. The beautiful patterning of the veneered Eggersmann cabinetry for example, is enhanced even further by being combined with the marble-veined splashback and worktop. Along with the brushed brass tap, it all ties in perfectly and creates a space that is thoroughly modern yet timeless too.

The structural glass on the ceiling has huge benefits in terms of letting in light and is a feature of itself, but presented challenges in terms of extraction as it sits directly above the hobs. A downdraft extraction system from Bora was therefore an ideal solution and meant the homeowner can cook and entertain with an unobstructed view of their guests. This is a room that can be used effortlessly from day through to night, with lighting installed into the pocket door unit and under the wall units, controlled via an app to making dimming and toning simple too. In this way the beauty of the space can be enjoyed 24/7, as and when required.

Clean, sleek and sophisticated throughout, the finished kitchen is one that will take the family through every stage of their day, encouraging togetherness for many years to come.

Installer comments

With literally no tolerance, positioning the ducting for the cooktop extraction system presented a challenge. This was to be expected to a large extent and something that has presented itself in previous installations. Because of this, the challenge was relatively quick to overcome, much to the customer’s delight, as the finished effect means no unsightly extraction hood and a seamless design running through the space, with no visual obstructions.

“It is very fair to say that this challenge aside, everything else went like a textbook installation, from the furniture through to the appliances and all the important finishing touches. There were no other issues during the install, no unexpected damages and certainly no time delays. In fact, this was one of the smoothest installs we’ve had and the results speak for themselves.”

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