large family kitchen Archives

Designing a Warehouse Industrial Style Vintage Kitchen in London

Posted in Sep 2021

Despite being designers ourselves, we are occasionally called upon by other designers to take their concept ideas forward to reality. Because we are both maker and designer we bring deep understanding of wood, the manufacturing process and period finishing to the conversation which enables us to add value to their ideas and create rooms of exceptional individualty and quality for their clients.

We were invited to do just this for the design team at Studio Indigo. The practice, based in Chelsea, is one of the best design companies we work with. Quite uniquely their teams are made up of both architects and interior designers, which gives their clients a really efficient service. We love working with them for this reason.

This particular project was for a Victorian villa in London which was to have a modern and fresh industrial style vintage kitchen at its heart.

Initial Conceptual Idea

Studio Indigo’s initial idea was for a U shaped island on one level at the centre of the room with an integrated central hob and preparation sink.

The original island featured a central raised bar which enveloped a supporting post at the centre of the room. The ovens were to be behind with tall refridgeration on a tall run alongside the main scullery sink.

Design Development

As is the case with most projects, as discussions with clients continue, ideas develop and interior architecture shifts. One of the principle issues we all had with the initial kitchen was there was little room for larder storage. To overcome this, we consulted with the team at Studio Indigo and commandeered some redundant space under the stairs behind the kitchen to the right which provided ample room for larder storage for the family. This freed up the main kitchen and allowed us to make some important improvements to the design.

Moving the larder storage out of the main kitchen freed up the design of the main run.

Once this was resolved, we could then turned our attention to the island, the centrepiece of the room. Our first collective decision was that we should raise the entire front face of the island to hide the main hob from the rest of the room; hobs can be messy spaces and rarely benefit from being on view. In rooms with tall ceilings such as this, we also find that raising an island’s height better serves the room’s proportions.

3D Renders

Once the design was agreed, a render could be produced to bring the elements of furniture to life. At this stage it was decided to add zinc to the raised island section which had the effect of turning it into a bar from its public side, a feature which suited the client and the relaxed intention for this social kitchen space.

Seating Area

The initial idea for the bench seat from Studio Indigo was to create a wonderful Victorian industrial booth seat with distressed bronze finish, leather seating and shelving. Their initial concept sketch to us below was incredibly helpful.

As research was undertaken into the best approach to take for this piece, it became apparent that to create the frame from mild steel, which is hollow and has rounded edges, would not deliver the crisp engineered look we were all after. It could also buckle if fallen into, creating a safety concern,. It was therefore decided to make the entire frame from solid brass bar. This provided the opportunity to create a really authentic engineered look, and it also allowed us to distress the surface of the brass to add patina to the piece.

The Completed Room

Some professional images taken of the completed work are below.

Photo credit Studio Indigo.

Further information regarding this completed kitchen space can be found here.

If you would like to discuss a kitchen or joinery design project with Artichoke, please email newprojects@artichoke.co.uk or call 01934 745270

Luxury Bespoke Kitchens with Large Islands

Posted in Mar 2016

During the process of designing a luxury kitchen, Artichoke’s design team will almost always allow for a large kitchen island.

In the 25 years that we have been designing bespoke kitchens for clients, we’ve never designed the same island twice. Islands will usually sit in a commanding position centrally within the kitchen space and they are therefore the first item of furniture that client’s like to focus on during the design process. They have a large impact on a room and are usually the first piece of furniture that visitors see when they enter, so they should be designed with care and attention to detail.

The design direction for a kitchen island depends on a number of key factors. First and foremost, is the kitchen island there to impress or do you want it to have a practical function? When designing the large kitchen island in the image below, attention was primarily focussed on drama. The contemporary bookmatched marble island offsets the regency sash windows perfectly.

Marble kitchen island — A large island in a regency house in Somerset designed by Artichoke in conjunction with interior designer Ilse Crawford.

When pressed with the question of form over function, many clients are tempted to want both, but in our experience asking for both a dramatic and functional island simply serves to dilute both in equal measure; if you can, choose one, and pursue it whole-heartedly.

In the kitchen island below, care was taken to be far more subtle in the design process. This is a working kitchen for a London house, and as such the luxury of drama was over ridden by the need for a large practical island that functions well as a working kitchen space. The drama was introduced over the island with the large batterie-de-cuisine and striking industrial extractor hood behind.

This more practical and subtle island take a more discreet approach. — This more practical and subtle island takes a more discreet approach.

Artichoke regularly designs kitchens for professional and semi professional cooks where function usually takes precedent over form. The large cook’s kitchen island below is one such commission. The worktop is divided in two, with basalt forming the main surface at one end of the island for more heavy duty food preparation such as washing vegetables, peeling, chopping etc, with a softer material, oak, at the other end for baking and pastries. Aesthetically this large kitchen island takes on the feel of an Edwardian Cook’s table.

A kitchen island designed by Artichoke inspired by an Edwardian cook's kitchen. — A kitchen island designed by Artichoke inspired by an Edwardian cook’s kitchen.

Chef’s knives are stored in this large kitchen island.Occasionally, Artichoke will be asked to include more than one island in the design. In this instance it is first important to consider whether multiple islands are actually needed. In our experience having more than one island can result in one becoming a dumping ground for daily administration, keys, post and other items not considered essential to a kitchen. However, in some cases two may be the right decision for the space, and the project pictured below is a great example of this. Artichoke designed two kitchen islands to aesthetically complement the over hanging roof lantern; the circle forming the centre of the islands matches the shape of the roof lantern above. In this case, having two islands also improved the flow of the space and was the preferred option over one large kitchen island for the client to walk around.

The shape of these two islands reflects the roof lantern above.

The final option is to create a large kitchen island from a single appliance, as in this kitchen designed by Artichoke for an Art Deco inspired house in London. This option limits typical uses for a kitchen island as there is often little preparation space, but with the correct appliance, such as a La Cornue in this instance, it can look very striking.

A La Cornue forms the large island at the centre of this Art Deco inspired kitchen.

Our portfolio contains further images of large kitchen islands. If you have a design project you’d like to discuss, please call +44 (0)1934 745270.

Tag: large family kitchen