Kitchen of the Week: An Industrial Vibe in a San Francisco Loft
Using the room’s height to its full potential provided this kitchen with practical and very cool storage
If this tech CEO wants a bowl of cereal, he must first lift an 18kg steel ladder into place and climb up several feet to a cabinet where he stores his dry goods. The desire to preserve large windows and the lack of available wall space prevented more accessible storage. But that didn’t matter for the homeowner, who enjoys exercising and doesn’t mind the extra lifting. He sees it as a minor sacrifice in the name of creating a knockout focal point in the industrial loft setting. ‘It was really all about the look,’ says Cindy Bayon of Muratore Construction + Design, who designed and built the almost entirely custom kitchen. ‘OK, in hindsight, there should have been wheels on the ladder.’
Kitchen at a Glance
Location San Francisco
Size The entire loft is 1,400 square feet
Kitchen at a Glance
Location San Francisco
Size The entire loft is 1,400 square feet
Though the homeowner isn’t an avid cook, he still wanted a working kitchen. In some places, it’s just that style trumps function. ‘There are kitchen standards of how far things should be apart, such as the sink in relation to the hob,’ Bayon says. ‘We broke a lot of rules and tried to find the balance of looking like an art installation but making a functional kitchen.’
Hob: Miele; oven: Jenn-Air
Hob: Miele; oven: Jenn-Air
The homeowner didn’t want solid metal cabinets that would create a clanging racket every time he dropped a piece of silverware into a drawer or shut a cabinet. So Bayon’s firm designed and built wooden cabinets, then had another company, Berlin, fabricate steel panels to cover everything. All the steel still created heavy cabinets, and while earthquakes were an immediate concern, the team didn’t have confidence in the support that the old brick walls offered, either. They brought in a structural engineer and decided to use vertical metal bars that connect the cabinets to the ceiling for additional support.
The island houses the sink, dishwasher and a pullout drawer for rubbish. There’s also a bank of drawers on one side and an open cubby on another for often-used tableware. The homeowner had planned to keep the previous small-plank oak floors, but because the crew had to rip everything up to run plumbing to the island anyway, he decided to switch to concrete.
Refrigerator, wine unit: Thermador
Refrigerator, wine unit: Thermador
During the demolition, they discovered a manhole cover and a large tank, the original use of which is unknown to Bayon. ‘I’m just glad it wasn’t filled with chemicals,’ she says. The crew filled the tank with concrete and laid the floor over it. The homeowner kept the manhole cover as a souvenir and plans to use it as a platter for the island.
The island is 107cm deep and acts as the main cutting and preparation space. It’s topped with marble that has a warm wood tone. Shades on magnetic rods can snap into place to conceal the lowest pane of window glass so people on the street can’t look in. Mechanical roller shades up top can close everything off to cut back on glare or create more privacy for the sleeping loft. Bayon painted the window mullions dark to help focus eyes toward the views.
Pendants: Restoration Hardware; countertop: Fox Marble Silver Brown Wave; faucet: KWC Systema; sink: Julien Summum in Black Granite
Pendants: Restoration Hardware; countertop: Fox Marble Silver Brown Wave; faucet: KWC Systema; sink: Julien Summum in Black Granite
She and the homeowner found these antique wheels at a metal yard, though they are purely aesthetic and don’t allow the island to move.
See another industrial-style kitchen
See another industrial-style kitchen
In a corner opposite the kitchen, a punch bag and gymnastics rings hang from a steel beam for exercising.
Steel fabrication: Berlin
Floors: Imbimbo Concrete
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Steel fabrication: Berlin
Floors: Imbimbo Concrete
Liked this? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
Steel is the kitchen’s main ingredient, cladding the nearly floor-to-ceiling cabinets, the massive island and even portions of the redwood structural posts. Its rawness fits well with the early-1900s former lithograph-warehouse setting and lends an edge that seems to permeate the entire project. The original kitchen was tucked underneath the loft seen on the left here; it was a dark and uneventful space. Bayon and the homeowner brought everything over to the double-height, brick-walled former living room, where large windows bring in lots of natural light. The living room is now where the kitchen used to be.
They wanted to get everything on one wall, so the two brick columns were all they had to work with. Tall appliances, such as the refrigerator, wine fridge and double-stacked ovens, took up most of the available space, so the upper cabinet ‘bridge’ storage was left for the pantry and extra tableware. Given the height of the loft, though, the tall cabinets helped cut down visually on the void.
Chandelier: Restoration Hardware