‘One of the best country house specialists in Britain’
We are delighted to be included for the 5th consecutive year in the Country Life Top 100 and be recognized as the widely respected in the design and manufacture of joinery-led rooms for country houses.
This represents the ultimate recognition of our expertise in working on fine English houses and an acknowledgement of our mission to create Britain’s future heritage.
We are so delighted to be recognized once again for the quality of our work – achieving a fine balance between meeting the needs and tastes of owners and fulfilling the potential of a house without harming its architectural integrity. Over 30 years, we’ve worked in houses of every architectural period and have built a detailed understanding of each.
Artichoke interiors, which are joinery-led, fulfill the unique promise of architectural joinery, which is not just to embellish rooms, but to give them their status and their role in the life of a household. Explore the extend of our services.
Architectural joinery achieves something no other trade can, in creating liveable, elegant and architecturally authentic houses. This puts us in a unique position, filling the gap between architects and interior designers, creating the interior structure that makes sense of a house.
Artichoke looks backwards to take our clients’ houses forward, recoupling exceptional artisan skills to design expertise. We are makers and creatives working as one to achieve the remarkable for our clients and their houses. Read about how we work.
We have been lucky to work very closely with Country Life magazine in recent years and to be part of this list, standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the most incredible companies of designers and artisans in the country which makes us very proud
The full Country Life Top 100 2020 list can be viewed here
To see some of the stunning work we have completed please click here.
We’d love to hear more if you have a project in mind. Whether it’s a single room – maybe a kitchen or a dressing room, or a whole house project, please do get in touch – speak with a member of our team on +44(0)1934 745 270 or email us at newprojects@artichoke.co.uk .
With decades of experience in joinery led interiors and wooden kitchen design, it’s fair to say that Bruce Hodgson, our Founder and Creative Director is a connoisseur of wood. Here he shares his thoughts about which is the best wood for bespoke joinery in kitchens.
Photo courtesy of Country Life magazine.
A luxury experience
Kitchens are first and foremost practical spaces. Therefore, satisfaction will come not only from how the fitted furniture looks. Just as important is the tactile experience a user has when they interact with the cupboards and drawers. The weight of the chosen wood is therefore key. Just as a high-quality car will have a weightiness about the door when you open it – the same goes for kitchens. The more substantial the material, the higher quality it feels.
The carcass
Even in the most luxurious timber kitchen design, hardwood is very unlikely to be the best choice when it comes to the carcassing. Wood is hydroscopic and therefore moves according to temperature and humidity. A carcass made from solid wood will therefore move over time which is a problem. Man-made board is more stable and we therefore favour it for carcassing. It does however, need to be the highest quality man-made board.
As the thickness and weight significantly affect the feel of the cupboard, we tend to use the finest 19 mm thick Finnish birch ply which is veneered with timber or craft paper which we then paint. Like solid hardwood, it’s very dense and strong and therefore takes screws well. For a sink cupboard or an area which will have particularly heavy wear we use laminate on the ply to make it even more robust. We have on occasion lined under sink cupboards with stainless steel.
The proof
An early Artichoke project – the magnificent Elizabethan Manor, Parnham House, provides a fine example of the durability of the high-quality plywood we favour. Tragically the manor house burnt to the ground some years ago and yet, on a recent tour with the new owners, we were delighted to discover that amongst the rubble and carnage, our kitchen cupboards were still standing!
An education in wood
Bruce is passionate about wood and very much enjoys sharing his extensive knowledge with his clients. He knows about the different timbers, the different cuts of the tree and how its stability is affected by which part of the tree it comes from. Not only is the type of tree important but where it was grown. This knowledge is invaluable when selecting materials for bespoke joinery.
Sustainability is key
Timbers go in and out of fashion. For example, there is a trend now for designers to specify rift cut wood for bespoke joinery. However, rift cut wood has little figure and is very wasteful as many of the beautiful elements of the wood are discarded. Our view is that if a tree is felled to build a cabinet, we owe it to that tree to make the finest possible cabinet with as little waste as possible.
Finishing bespoke joinery
As specialists in bespoke joinery, we are expert in timber finishing. Our choice of wood is often informed by the final aesthetic we are aiming towards in terms of grain and colour. For example, we might choose sweet chestnut to achieve a greyer version of oak. Whilst sweet chestnut is sometimes referred to as ‘Poor Man’s Oak, we hold it in high regard – it is a beautiful timber. In turn, grey elm creates another colour tone. Bruce is very fond of the nut woods for their colours – a particular favourite is European walnut because of its tones – the colour is nuttier and less red in tone than other nut woods.
Maple from North America was very popular in the 1980s but as it oxidises to a yellow colour, we are reluctant to specify it in our bespoke joinery. Sycamore is another favourite wood for us in bespoke kitchens– it is home grown and starts off as a pinkie cream with a tight, close grain offering a lovely smooth surface with anti bacterial qualities. We therefore often use it for work surfaces especially in country house interiors.
Legend has it
Oak is very versatile, and we use it widely in our wooden kitchen design – usually sourced from Europe. Nowadays Europe is much more forested than the UK, but this was not always the case. Legend has it that a squirrel could leap from tree to tree from one end of the UK to another without touching the ground – certainly not the case today. Our woodlands have been depleted dramatically over the years. After the great Fire of London (1666) there was a shift towards building in stone, but country houses continued to be built of timber.
European oak, grown in plantations tend to be straighter and taller which is helpful when selecting timber for furniture making and bespoke joinery. UK timbers tend to be farm grown rather than plantation grown. Farm grown wood is more likely to have defects and a wider grain as the trees are more isolated, and the tree is exposed to the ravages of weather.
Painted kitchens
Tulip wood is a popular choice for wooden kitchen design with a painted finish. It has a dense, flat surface making it an ideal canvass. At Artichoke, we tend to use tulip wood grown in plantations in North America. Because it is slower growing it has twice the density of other tulip woods. If we want to bring texture through the paintwork, we use Siberian birch – its texture is pronounced so the pattern of the grain grins through the paint or finish.
Timber choice in the past
Historically furniture and bespoke joinery were made using timber sourced from local woodland. When we analysed the timbers used in the beautiful Lanhydrock’s cook’s table – the inspiration for several of our projects – we discovered it was made up of several different woods. The drawer boxes were pine, the legs elm, the main drawer fronts, and frame around the apron were oak while the work top was sycamore. The timbers would have been chosen for how they look and their practicality but also their accessibility.
Our passion for wood
Our extensive knowledge of timber is key to our wooden kitchen design. We fit kitchens for modern life without compromising their period charm. By choosing timber and appropriate finishes that will endure daily use and heavy wear, we believe our kitchens and bespoke joinery can form part of a building’s architectural heritage for generations to come.
If you’d like to discuss our approach to design and discover first hand our passion for brilliantly designed furniture and how it can improve your experience of living in a period house, please email newprojects@artichoke.co.uk or call +44 (0)1934 745270.
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
Slow making versus throwaway culture has been brought into sharp focus over the last year and a half as we have all begun to realise the impact that poor quality purchasing decisions can have on both our lives and the planet. With sustainability becoming an increasingly important factor in how we all behave, we felt it warranted further exploration.
If you type ‘How long should a kitchen last’ into Google, the accepted answer is around 20 to 25 years. Most commentators seem to feel this is some sort of benchmark to be celebrated. We don’t.
Cost efficiencies come at a price
There are two reasons why most kitchens have such short shelf lives. The first is quality of design. The second being quality of manufacture. For a kitchen to last 20 years, it must be of a certain quality but it won’t be outstanding. Market forces will prevent it from being such. It is impossible to make kitchens or architectural joinery of a quality that will last for generations at a price point that most kitchen companies like to pitch their product at. To provide a product which is commercially attractive to their market, something has to give. That something is time and the quality of materials. Time must be saved to reduce cost in order to reduce price. Cheaper materials are chosen to help the company reach its desired price point.
Responsibly sourced solid hardwoods, seen here in Artichoke’s workshop, will last forever.
Time costs money
Rooms that will last for generations need to be timeless in how they look and robust enough to endure decades of use. Achieving this requires time. And with time costing money, kitchen companies find savings. Pre-designed ranges achieve economies of scale. Cost efficiencies are found in a myriad of ways – by speeding up manufacturing processes and taking shortcuts in making traditional joints. By making doors thinner, by mechanising finishing and by using cheaper, often man made materials, This speeds the design and manufacturing process up and lowers the quality. This all sounds rather sniffy but it’s not meant to be. It’s simply economics. These companies are providing a product at a price point that is acceptable to their customer. However, it’s not our product and its not our market. We discussed this need for time with Country Life a few issues ago.
An Artichoke cabinet maker making sure a solid wood joint fits to perfection.
Designing for sustainability
For us, sustainability is central to our mission. We don’t design rooms to be trendy. Trend has a shelf life, and anything with a shelf life usually meets its untimely end in landfill. We owe it to the raw materials we respect so much to take a much longer term view.
By designing architectural joinery which sits elegantly and serenely within its architectural environment, and by using natural materials which have not been processed, we are able to circumvent the need to replace it because it’s gone out of fashion or because its deteriorated. Our clients want joinery-led rooms which will be admired in 200 years in much the same way that we all admire rooms designed and created 200 years ago. To achieve this takes time, investment and a desire by the client to create heritage for future generations to admire and take value from. You cannot achieve design harmony in a beautiful period house by picking a pre-designed item off the shelf and hoping for the best. It won’t work.
Slow making
The slow movement is based on these principles. Slow making is our expression of this philosophy. It is not about doing everything at a snail’s pace. It’s about seeking to do everything at the right speed to achieve the desired result. And in our case, the desired result is in the creation of this country’s future heritage.
If you’d like to discuss our approach to architectural joinery and our passion for how brilliantly designed furniture can immesurably improve your experience of living in a period house, please email newprojects@artichoke.co.uk or call 01934 734270
As the Country Life top 100 2020 is announced, we are delighted to once again be included for the third consecutive year. This represents the ultimate recognition of our expertise in working on fine English houses and an acknowledgement of our mission to create Britain’s future heritage.
We are so delighted to be recognized once again for the quality of our work – achieving a fine balance between meeting the needs and tastes of owners and fulfilling the potential of a house without harming its architectural integrity. Over nearly 30 years, we’ve worked in houses of every architectural period and have built a detailed understanding of each. Artichoke interiors, which are joinery-led, fulfill the unique promise of architectural joinery, which is not just to embellish rooms, but to give them their status and their role in the life of a household. Architectural joinery achieves something no other trade can in creating liveable, elegant and architecturally authentic houses. This puts us in a unique position, filling the gap between architects and interior designers, creating the interior structure that makes sense of a house – and providing designers with the canvas they need.
Artichoke looks backwards to take our clients’ houses forward, recoupling exceptional artisan skills to design expertise. We are makers and creatives working as one to achieve the remarkable for our clients and their houses.
We have been lucky to work very closely with Country Life magazine in recent years and to be part of this list, standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the most incredible companies of designers and artisans in the country makes us very proud
The full Country Life Top 100 2020 list can be reviewed here
To see some of the stunning work we have completed please click here.
We’d love to hear more if you have a project in mind. Whether its a single room – maybe a kitchen or a dressing room, or a whole house project, please do get in touch – speak with a member of our team on +44(0)1934 745 270 or email us at newprojects@artichoke.co.uk .
If you are a fan of the Art Deco kitchen or the flamboyant Art Deco period in general, then it’s quite possible you’d have seen images of the lift doors in the Chrysler Building in New York which have been the inspiration for a bespoke Art Deco kitchen and dining room commission we have recently completed in Mayfair, Central London.
To set the scene, the Chrysler Building was constructed in the competitive and fast paced world of 1920’s New York. The economy in America was booming; the social scene was roaring, and the fields of design and architecture were creating their own very specific identities. The discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922 had also unleashed a huge thirst for Egyptian design with the Karnak Temple in particular influencing global design detail of the time.
The Chrysler Building was funded entirely by Walter P Chrysler who paid for the building from his own pocket in order that his children and grand-children could benefit from it. He made many of the bold design decisions alongside his architect William Van Allen. The eccentric Art Deco crescent-shaped steps of the spire (spire scaffolding) were made of chrome-nickel steel as a stylised sunburst motif, and underneath it steel deco gargoyles, depicting American eagles, stare over the city. Sculptures modelled after Chrysler automobile radiator caps decorate the lower setbacks, along with ornaments of car wheels. It really was an awe-inspiring folly.
There were many stunning and original design details included in the architecture of the Chrysler Building, but the one to influence the panelling and doors for our Art Deco kitchen and dining room are the incredible lift doors, of which there are 32 sets within the Chrysler Building. In Artichoke’s Art Deco kitchen and dining room there are 37 doors.
The lift doors in the Chrysler Building, New York.
Our rendered images of the approved design.
According to the book, New York, 1930, ‘Architecture and Urbanism Between the two World Wars.’, the Art Deco Chrysler Building Lift doors are made of Japanese ash, English gray harewood and Asian walnut. Inside the elevators, the cabs include American walnut, dye-ebonized wood, satinwood, Cuban plum-pudding wood and curly maple. The cabinets are all different inside. The metal work is chrome-nickel steel to match the exterior of the building.
The creative idea for this project was originally conceived by our friends at Fletcher Priest Architects, with Artichoke being responsible for taking the conceptual idea of the Art Deco kitchen and turning it into reality.
The design detail within the doors includes some fascinating references to Egyptian mythology including references to the Egyptian feather of truth (the feather, because of its Egyptian name, “shut”, which was a symbol of Shu). This may have been a clever attempt at humour by the architect.
A Marquetry Bespoke Art Deco Kitchen and Dining Room
Artichoke was asked to create a panelled bespoke Art Deco kitchen and dining room for the project which overlooks Green Park. The design had similarities to the original doors in the Chrysler Building, albeit with less flamboyant metalwork, pared down Egyptian references and slightly different decorative veneers.
There are many complexities associated with a marquetry job of this nature. Firstly, unlike lift doors, kitchen doors are often different widths because they often house different hardware within them. How do the designers ensure therefore that the Art Deco kitchen panels are equal in size and mirror each other on either side of the room? This is a vital puzzle to solve in order to adhere to the classical symmetry and proportions so important in Deco design.
Secondly, from a purely practical point of view, how does one treat the copper sheet that’s embedded within some of the marquetry panels? Research shows that copper contains a repellant which actually breaks down most rubber based glues. Copper also expands rapidly when heated, so a cautious approach is needed when sanding the veneers, otherwise the copper is likely to heat up with friction, expand and ping off. Then, once the correct glue is found to successfully adhere copper, testing is needed to see how it reacts with the exotic wood veneers either side of it. Any reaction, and it’s back to square one!
In addition to that, copper discolours when being cut by laser, so specialist laser equipment with weaker strength beams were sourced specifically to cut the individual copper elements of the art deco kitchen panels.
Grain direction is another big discussion point, as is trying to ensure that the flitches of veneers used in the doors match each other in both tone and scale as closely as possible.
A successful sample; an initial experiment gluing up copper and decorative veneers
There are six primary doors and thirty one secondary doors throughout the bespoke Art Deco kitchen and dining room, including an automated moving partition wall that divides the rooms when entertaining.
The initial layout of the marquetry doors with their materials listed.
How the marquetry is cut.
Initial sample showing veneers and copper inlay for the primary doors on the right hand side and secondary on the left. .
The client approved the sample for the Art Deco kitchen’s secondary doors, but it was felt a more intricate pattern for the primary doors was needed. The later design is on the right hand side, showing a much more intricate pattern for the copper veneers on the primary doors. You may notice that the Egyptian feather has been re-introduced to the design on the right.
This more detailed elevation shows the intricate copper detailing on the primary marquetry panelled doors.
All of Artichoke’s bespoke kitchen projects are first made digitally using engineering software. This ensures that all of the cabinet-making issues can be ironed out before real production starts.
Detail of the copper in-situ.
One of the 37 doors ready to be wrapped and taken to site.
The Completed Bespoke Art Deco Kitchen and Dining Room
At Artichoke, a significant number of the bespoke period kitchens we are commissioned to design are in English country houses, many dating back many hundreds of years. When designing for these clients, we find referencing from kitchens from the past a particularly useful way to gain inspiration. Here are a few of the period kitchens that have inspired our work:
The scullery at Dunham Massey, Cheshire
The kitchen, Avebury Manor, Wiltshire (prior to its redecoration)
The Kitchen in the Basement at Ickworth, Suffolk.
The Kitchen at Attingham Park, Shropshire. The elm-topped table and dresser are filled with the copper batterie de cuisine.
The range and surrounding stonework with carved inscription in the Kitchen at Gawthorpe Hall, Lancashire.
The Kitchen at Dunham Massey, Cheshire.
The Kitchen with the Philip Webb dresser at Standen, West Sussex.
The Scullery at Tredegar House, Newport, South Wales. The wooden draining boards and sinks and plate rack are a modern replacement for the original fittings.
The Great Kitchen at Tredegar House, Newport, South Wales. The walls are partly tiled with 1880s Maw and Company tiles, with the upper parts painted blue which was a colour believed to repel flies.
Old kitchen equipment including graters, a corkscrew, a toasting fork and a sieve at Sunnycroft, Shropshire.
Old kitchen utensils used as display at Polesden Lacey restaurant, Surrey.
Part of the copper batterie de cuisine on the dresser shelves in the Kitchen at Attingham Park, Shropshire.
The Kitchen with wooden table, and range, at Osterley Park, Middlesex. The room has been a kitchen since the 1760s and is in the opposite corner of the house to the Eating Room, so that no noise or cooking odours should disturb the diners.
The sixteenth century kitchen built by Sir Richard Grenville at Buckland Abbey, Yelverton, Devon. The kitchen was re-sited to be near to the Great Hall and the room is dominated by two open hearths used for cooking. The walls are painted in a traditional pink limewash.
The Kitchen at Castle Drogo, Devon, with the circular beechwood table designed by the architect of the house, Edwin Lutyens. The only natural light in the room comes from the circular lantern window above the table, echoing its shape.
Partial view of the oak table designed by Lutyens and made by Dart & Francis in 1927 in the Butler’s Pantry at Castle Drogo, Devon.
Three large oak-framed sinks and the long rows of plate racks above partially lit in the Scullery at Castle Drogo.
The Larder with a food safe at Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton, West Midlands.
Artichoke’s approach to kitchen design is far more architectural than most, and we are highly experienced in resolving how interior space is organised by furniture.
Before any drawing work is done, it’s important for us to gain a thorough understanding of our clients domestic arrangements. Gaining this knowledge helps us design spaces that work effortlessly. It is the key to providing functional solutions for our clients.
General Requirements
The key to a successful outcome is to establish a clear brief for the kitchen and surrounding areas of the house.
Who is the client?
Is the person providing us with the brief for the kitchen the person paying for it? To us it is vital to establish a relationship with all interested parties.
Who will be using the kitchen and how does the household operate?
Sounds like an odd question, but often, the person who will be using the kitchen is not the same person paying for it. For instance, some clients have housekeepers, so it’s vital to understand their needs within the kitchen also.
How many people does the kitchen need to serve on a daily basis?
What is the largest number of people the kitchen needs to cater for on a semi regular basis?
Does the client have a budget?
It is vital to establish a budget for the kitchen early on. Setting financial expectations from the outset will help control the kitchen specification.
What are the client priorities for the kitchen: Quality / Cost / Function / Aesthetics / Deliverability?
The prioritisation of these five topics will have an impact on the kitchen design.
What is the time frame for the project?
The sooner we can identify and consider the risks to the project; the more effective we will be in providing for them. Quite often for instance, the builder will be screaming for positions of gas, water, extraction and drainage before the design has even been started.
Does the kitchen need to accommodate religious dietary needs such as ‘Kosher’?
This is important as some religions have very specific food storage needs.
Is the property listed? What are the listing restrictions and do any apply to the kitchen space, ducting routes etc?
Where is the kitchen located within the house?
Has it been nominated enough space?
Is there a requirement for the kitchen to be supported and serviced by others rooms such a scullery, cold room, dry larder, wines cellar or butler’s pantry?
What is the route in to the house and kitchen for groceries, and what is the route out for waste? Where is the location of waste for recycling?
Understanding this can have an important influence on the position of fridges, bins and internal doors.
Is there an existing kitchen, and are its contents relevant?
Quite often there is a real benefit in surveying the clients’ existing contents and existing storage volume as this can have a direct bearing on how the new bespoke kitchen is designed.
What is the floor finish?
We need to first consider the setting out of the floor in relation to the kitchen plinth lines to ensure joins don’t clash or look ill-considered.
What is the structure of the flooring proposed?
The weight of the kitchen furniture and kitchen appliances are significant as they will deflect the sub floor and compress the floor coverings if they are not correctly engineered.
What are the window furnishings?
Do they need to be accommodated into the design?
What are the heating requirements for the kitchen and how is the space to be heated?
If the kitchen is under floor heated, BTU calculations should be made by excluding the kitchen furniture foot print, otherwise too much heating might be installed into the room. Heating underneath fine furniture is also likely to cause timber movement and potentially structural damage.
What are the general ergonomics of the client?
Are they exceptionally tall, and what is the height of their partner? Do they have any disabilities to consider?
Appliances and Kitchen Equipment
What fuel type is available?
Often in rural locations, natural gas is not available which means LPG needs to be considered as an alternative. If the LPG route needs to me taken, checks need to be made to ensure that chosen gas appliances can be converted to LPG.
What is the oven capacity needed and how many hobs are required?
Does the client prefer a range oven or ovens in column?
Understanding the age of the client is an an import factor when choosing positions of ovens in a kitchen, flooring types, access, waste routes and so on.
What type of cooking does the user of the kitchen do?
Knowing this will effect the choice of appliances. Oven types can vary from conventional, fan assisted, grilling, baking, steaming, microwave and multi-functional options whereas hobs now come in a dizzying variety, including ceramic, induction, gas, wok, grille, steam, fryer, Teppanyaki, domino.
What are the kitchen extraction requirements?
Where is extractor motor located? Ideally in-line or externally as this will be quieter. Does the client fry a great deal on a Teppanyaki type hob? Knowing the size of the room in cubic metres will effect the size of the extractor motor.
What type of lighting is integrated into the extractor system?
Does this co-ordinate with the task lighting throughout the rest of the kitchen?
Refrigeration
What volume of refrigeration and freezer is required?
Is there remote cold storage available?
There is little point in taking up critical space in the main kitchen with long term storage.
What wine storage and cold drink storage is needed?
Is cold water and ice making required?
Water, Sinks, Dishwashing and Waste
Is there enough drop?
It’s important to consider waste water routes when siting sinks to ensure enough drop is available to deliver grey water into the drainage.
Thought should be given towards the material of the sink.
Consider the suitability of the kitchen sink materials from a functional and aesthetic perspective. Options include ceramic / cast iron enameled / stainless steel / wooden / corian / synthetic / stone. If there is crystal being hand washed in the scullery sink then wood is more appropriate than cast iron.
Consider the different uses of a sink.
Preparation of food, drainage for cooking liquids, and scullery. In larger kitchens that serve large volumes, it helps to separate these functions. In smaller compact spaces it may be necessary to combine all these function into one sink.
Thick worktops
When specifying thick kitchen worktops, consider the fixing of taps; it may be necessary to undercut the worktop to accommodate the thread length of the tap.
Solid Stone Sinks
When specifying stone sinks it is well worth understanding their weight, depth, support and how to integrate ‘over flows’.
Matching metal finishes.
When specifying taps and sprays it is important to consider the metal finishes available. Is it possible for the taps to match the wastes in the sink? Will they have to be custom finished?
Dishwashers
Dishwashers have a minimum height beyond which they cannot be compressed. With integrated models it is important to ensure the height of the plinth and length of the integrated door is considered so the geometry of opening door works. Particular care should be taken with ‘in frame’ doors. If the kitchen caters for large parties, are two dishwashers needed?
Bin Drawer Doors
Dishwashers and bin drawers are the most frequently used moving parts of a kitchen, and therefore need to be robust. Does the adjoining furniture need to be protected from steam and water? The design of a bin drawer needs to facilitate easy cleaning and sorting of waste for recycling.
Waste Disposal
Is kitchen waste disposal needed? Switched or continuous feed?
Consider the storage of waste. If possible, do not store waste within the kitchen but look to a transitory location for larger volumes between ‘bin days’. Dealing with waste is an essential process within a household and a holistic strategy needs to be developed that works.
Kitchen Equipment and Gadgets
There are a never ending list of kitchen gadgets and equipment for food preparation. It is worthwhile finding out which ones need to be stored in and around the kitchen; here is a check list:
During the design process of any bespoke kitchen, discussions will inevitably reach the marble or granite worktops question. Choosing the best kitchen worktop for your home is not straightforward. Each has their pros and cons, and there is no right or wrong answer.
Hopefully this journal piece will act as a useful guide for each material, but feel free to contact us if you’d like to discuss designing a kitchen best suited to your country home.
Marble
In our view, marble is the most beautiful kitchen worktop material. Generally the patterns, hues and colours available in marbles are softer and more elegant than granite, so we consider them to be the best kitchen worktops aesthetically, and we feel its beauty outweighs its flaws.
Marble types vary in density, porosity and mineral content, and they will all stain if acids (such as red wine and lemon juice) are left on them for hours unchecked. However, if your marble surface is sealed and the offending material is removed quickly, you should be fine. Marble is also softer than granite so it will etch and antique with wear. It is similar to timber in this respect and it will create its own beautiful patina over time. We see this wear as an attractive quality but may not be to everybody’s taste. Explore marble as a kitchen surface in greater depth here.
Combining timber with Carrara marble often works well
Granite
Granite worktops are the most robust of all natural kitchen work surface stones. It is dense, scratch resistant and does not stain. It is considered one of the best kitchen worktops for any functional cooking surface.
With reasonable care, granite worktops will stay looking new for many years. In our experience, because granites are the post popular kitchen stone work surface, they also tend to be more susceptible to trend, meaning that they can also quickly go out of fashion. Certainly a few years ago, polished black granite was a popular kitchen worktop choice. Now it tends to be less so. Whenever we install granite, we tend to hone it to remove the polished surface, or flame it, a process which textures and antiques the surface.
Because of the way granite is formed geologically (it is volcanic as opposed to marble which is formed from sea bed activity), its patterns are, in our view, less exciting. They are typically bolder and less refined, and we tend to opt for using them in a scullery or pantry environment where the kitchen worktops are likely to get more wear and looks are less important.
A flamed surface will give worktop surfaces a texture which softens or antiques the stone, making it more interesting. It also diffuses reflections from light sources within the room.
Wood
Wooden kitchen worktops wear quickly in comparison to stone. It is less suitable for use as a kitchen worktop, particularly around wet areas, but it can look spectacular in a period country house environment. Our blog on kitchens in period country houses has some great images of period kitchens with wooden worktops.
Oak is the most commonly used solid timber kitchen work surface in Britain. It is warm to the touch and looks great, but it needs to be heavily protected with modern lacquers before it is fitted. Over time (in under ten years), these lacquers will wear, particularly in heavy use areas around the sink. Once the lacquer is worn and water can access the oak, it will start to go black (particularly around the sink taps), and ultimately the surface may need to be replaced.
If you are going to use oak, we would suggest not using it near sinks or wet areas. The island in the bespoke Edwardian cook’s kitchen we designed for a client uses both Italian black basalt and oak, with the basalt being used for the wet areas and the oak for the preparation areas. This was a good compromise when designing the best kitchen worktop to suit our client’s vision.
Basalt
Basalt is a good alternative to Granite worktops (they are both silicates). It is hard, wears well and looks great, but mainly comes in dark colours (greys, blacks and blues) owing to the iron and magnesium that contaminates it during its formation.
Artichoke used Italian basalt for this kitchen near Haslemere in Surrey.
Artichoke are fans of basalt, which is warm to the touch and softer to the feel than granite. Some people think it looks a little like concrete.
Slate
Slate is formed from heavily compressed clay at low heat and is very finely grained. Most slate (Welsh slate in particular) is not suitable for kitchen work surfaces. It stains easily with acid (wine, lemon juice etc) and it can chip.
Artichoke does occasionally use slate kitchen worktops from Cumbrian quarries for bespoke kitchens. These Cumbrian slates are extremely hard, extremely beautiful and do perform like granite (although can scratch a little more easily). They have beautiful graining and are soft to the touch. A disadvantage is that most slates do not come in slabs longer than 1,800mm long, which is around 1,000mm shorter than the lengths available in granite.
Artichoke typically use slates in pantries.
(Top Left) Bursting Stone, (Top Right) Bayclift Lord, Bottom Left (Kirkstone Silver Green), (Bottom Right) Kirkstone Brathay Blue
Corian
Corian is an entirely man-made material formed primarily from an acrylic polymer. It is non-porous, stain resistant, heat resistant and repairable. It can be jointed seamlessly and is also flexible when heated, which allows it to be moulded into limitless forms and is the best kitchen worktop for versatility.
It burns at 212 Fahrenheit / 100 centigrade, so it will not take very hot pans in the same way as granite will, but it can be seamlessly repaired should burn damage occur.
It also comes in a wide variety of colours, and because it can be bonded seamlessly to other Corian products, a worktop can mould seamlessly into a sink without any visible join, making it excellent for hygienic use. Artichoke often designs Corian into pantry environments.
In a recently completed project,the family’s preference for fresh food, prepared in advance, plated up and ready to serve, led to the design of a bespoke cold storage cupboard easily accessed from the corridor using moulded Corian to ensure it could be kept spotlessly clean.
Being man-made, there are no natural fissures or graining, making it a great choice for contemporary kitchens in particular.
In this Artichoke project, the work-surface and the backsplash were seamlessly jointed and curved at the join, meaning there are no angled corners for dirt to collect. The sinks are also seamlessly jointed to the work surfaces.
In this kitchen, the Corian work-surface runs seamlessly into the backsplash with no visible joins.
For this scullery in a circular house, Artichoke used Corian for the walls aswell as the sink. To see more details of this project, visit this page.
Quartz
Quartz work surfaces such as Okite are made from three ingredients; quartz, polyester resin and colouring. Around 90% of the material is made from quartz, and it is highly resistant to staining, heat and scratches, five times stronger than granite and non-porous, making it one of the best kitchen worktops for durability.
It can also be “grained” and made to look like marbles and natural stone. This process is well refined now and manufacturers have it down to a fine art. It is a realistic alternative to marble but the graining can be a little formulaic.
Concrete
Concrete is a great kitchen worktop, particularly if you are after a modernist / industrial look. Concrete typically comes with a smooth surface or with an aggregate surface and it can be pigmented to colour it. Depending on the shape and size of the piece, it can be cast on site or bought in pre-cast.
Concrete is porous and it will mark. If you place a coffee mug onto the surface, it will leave a stain. The same applies to oil and other liquids such as wine, and if you are fastidious about perfect unblemished surfaces, then this is not the surface for you. If you are prepared to relax and let daily life create its own patina however, it will look amazing in five years.
Stone Sealants
A recent online discussion with Russell Taylor Architects reminded me that I had missed out an important element; caring for stone. Their comments, which I quote here word for word, are worth reading.
“To be on the safe side, our suggestion would be to use a stone sealant. Some of the stone sealants now available on the market are very good and absolutely invisible: they are not shiny and don’t change the colour or texture of the stone in any way, but make it completely resilient to water and oil penetration. We have used successfully on stone work tops VULCASEAL V201 and Lithofin STAINSTOP, Lithofin MN Stain-Stop ECO, Lithofin Nano-TOPAlways, always, A-L-W-A-Y-S produce a sample of whatever treatment you decide to use and let it dry properly before applying it to the whole surface.” Always, always, A-L-W-A-Y-S produce a sample of whatever treatment you decide to use and let it dry properly before applying it to the whole surface.”
Thank you Russel Taylor Architects!
And in addition to that, Artichoke often provides sealed stone samples to clients to then pour wine on, leave lemon juice on and generally treat badly; this is a good way to gain confidence in what you are buying.
Finding Balance
We wish you luck in finding the kitchen surface that has the right balance between beauty, durability and price that is right for your needs. Take a look at projects on our website for more inspiration. If you’d like to discuss your kitchen project in more detail, please get in touch via email newprojects@artichoke.co.uk or give Andy a call on +44 (0)1934 745270.
With each project, whether a kitchen or a whole house, we aim to create Britain’s future heritage, adding architectural value to our clients’ houses for their family and for future generations. We aren’t simply making joinery. We are making history.
Villa Guglielmesca is situated near the town of Cortona, in the province of Arezzo in Tuscany. While the prevailing character of Cortona’s architecture is medieval Renaissance, the villa itself dates back to the beginning of the 1900s. Originally a private house, it was transformed into a hotel with 12 bedrooms in the 1950s before being purchased by the current owner.
Villa Guglielmesca, Cortona, Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy (in 2011 before work started)The View from the Villa
In 2010, Artichoke was commissioned directly by the owner to reconfigure the villa and make it function again as a private residence. This has involved extensive interior architectural design work by Artichoke’s creative team and includes designing the architecture and furniture for the entrance hall, master bedrooms, bespoke Tuscan style kitchen, dining room, butler’s pantry, boot-room, guest and master bathrooms, ballroom, interior architectural joinery, doors, skirting and floors.
Front Entrance Door
The front entrance door was designed taking inspiration from the architecture of local Tuscan vernacular. Our initial design below proposed the door as European Walnut, although the door is now more likely to be hand painted. The exterior elevation on the left shows the stone architrave which will be in Pietra Serena to match the Tuscan columns and the fireplace found in the Tuscan style kitchen. Pietra Serena is a beautiful grey Tuscan sandstone which was used by Michelangelo in the Medici Chapel Romeare.
The splayed reveal August 2014, ready for plastering
Entrance Hall Design
Below is the Entrance Hall as it existed while Villa Guglielmesca was a hotel. As you can see, the existing interior architecture of the villa required significant design work. Our initial focus was to research and gain a thorough understanding of local vernacular to create an appropriate space for family living.
The Villa’s entrance hall when it was a hotel
The images below show the approved Artichoke re-design of the entrance hall with twinned Etruscan columns supporting the vaulted ceiling and hiding the re-enforced concrete columns. The stone we decided to use for the columns are made from Pietra Serena.
Artichoke’s re-design of the entrance hall
Plans show Artichoke’s architectural plans for the main hall
Bespoke Kitchen Interior Design
Artichoke’s design team also introduced the groin vaulted ceiling detail used in the entrance hall to the principal bespoke kitchen as both a device to architecturally tie the two ends of the vast space together and to frame the large open fireplace (also designed by us).
The Villa’s kitchen space taken back to brick
Inspiration for the bespoke Tuscan kitchen design in Villa Guglielmesca was taken from typical Tuscan agricultural furniture design. The primary timber being used for the kitchen is French oak. The oak on the island was bleached and the oak for the pan-shelves were fumed to age them. The breadboard island tops were made from wild-grain European walnut which we sourced in Italy. The arched doors on the end of the island, which is plastered, are made from solid oak, and roughly hand planed across the grain with a curved plane blade to create an aged effect to match the Tuscan style kitchen. The glazed dresser doors close on traditional espagnoletes.
These images are renders or computer generated representations of the designs which are part of our process. They enable all involved to see the current plans in a 3D format. They show the two brick islands in the Tuscan style kitchen finished in rough finish lime render
Boot room Design
In addition to the villa’s Tuscan style kitchen, Artichoke designed a simple and authentic boot room for the private residence. Artichoke’s design teams have designed numerous bespoke boot rooms for country properties and apart from plenty of storage, a key aspect to most successful boot room designs is combining practicality with simplicity. Boot rooms get a lot of wear. They get dirty and are more loved for their practicality than their looks, mainly because most of the fitted furniture becomes draped in coats, hats and scarves, and eventually much of it becomes invisible. Artichoke designed the villa’s boot room with drainage at the centre of the room to allow mud to be washed and brushed away.
Artichoke’s renders (computer generated designs) for the villa’s boot room
Kitchen Fireplace
Artichoke designed the fireplace in the Tuscan style kitchen and surround as a multi-functional space, and it is far from simply decorative. A chargrill has been designed on the right hand side, with the left reserved for open fires and spit-roasting meats. The stone for the surround is Pietra Serena.
Shows the Artichoke designed fireplace being prepared in tandem with the groined ceiling in the tuscan style kitchen, also designed by Artichoke.
Interior Architecture
There are nearly 100 individual features designed by Artichoke inside Villa Guglielmesca, including coffered ceilings, fireplaces, windows, columns, doors and stone architraves. A few examples can be seen below:
Construction in progress of the groined ceiling in the Villa’s Limonaria
Pietra Serena stone architrave being set into the Villa wallsOne of the Artichoke designed Pietra Serena window surrounds
Installation Phase
Artichoke’s European walnut vanity unit with walnut mirrors. The marble to be added will be CarraraThe Villa’s exterior showing the Pietra Serena windows and door frames designed by Artichoke. The shutters were make locallyA bespoke marble sink carved to fit a special nook in the cloak room
Walnut skirting was designed for the dining roomArtichoke designed this simple linen store. Note the detail in the clay tiles at the threshold of the doorThe groined ceiling in the corridor is complemented by the Artichoke designed openings and doors.
The Completed Project
This project can be found in full by visiting our website. A selection of images from the completed project are below. With each project, whether a kitchen or a whole house, we aim to create fitted furniture of lasting value, adding architectural value to our clients’ houses for their family and for future generations. We aren’t simply making joinery. We are making history.
To discuss your project, email the Artichoke team at newprojects@artichoke.co.uk or call on +44 (0)1934 745270.
