Kitchen
Our clients, a professional couple with a young child, challenged us to design a new custom kitchen / mudroom and laundry room with a tight budget in a historic structure. The existing kitchen, located in a 3 story historic brick apartment building built in 1916, was in a cramped space at the back of the house. Our clients' apartment is located on the middle floor of the classically detailed building, so when we proposed relocating the the kitchen to a more central location within the apartment, they were excited, yet dubious. Their kitchen needed to suit the needs of raising a small child as well as hosting formal social gatherings in a sophisticated, yet playful space where the implements of daily life could be stored away for a clean, uncluttered look.
The new eat-in-kitchen occupies the space of the former dining room, and becomes the central hub of the house. With direct access to a renovated mud room/laundry room, and back door on one side, and the formal entry, and the living room on the other; the kitchen becomes the focus of daily life, radically transforming the apartment.
The spatial configuration of the kitchen addresses the modern needs of our client while the material pallet pays homage to the classical detailing of the building. The material of the upper cabinets folds at the ceiling defining the primary space of the eat-in kitchen. The wall opposite the upper cabinets contains the refrigerator as well as a bank of deep storage, so that our client can conceal their kitchen tools while allowing for easy access. The space between these two elements creates corridor of movement through the kitchen, creating a spatial connection between opposite ends of the apartment.
The University Circle Renovation project employs a custom kitchen design that uses a modern spatial solution with traditional detailing and materials to create a harmonious and functional kitchen space within a small home.
Photo: Andy Franck