kitchen
Rather than adding a painted surface to the door fronts, the designers of this kitchen have gone for the opposite effect. The black carcass edges contrast sharply with the pale plywood cabinet fronts. In fact, the difference in shade is so strong that it has given the kitchen the appearance of a grid. To show it off to the max, the designers added a jet-black upstand and left the walls relatively plain and white.
The door and drawer fronts have been treated with lye to lighten them for a soft, chalky look, but the end grain and recessed handles are simply sealed with an ecofriendly water-based matt lacquer to show the interesting patterns of the ply. ‘Typically, we work with oak frames and doors and birch ply carcassing,’ explains Sam Shaw of Sustainable Kitchens about the kitchens he more typically designs. Here, however, it’s the birch plywood that takes centre stage. ‘It’s the best-quality plywood you can get for internal joinery,’ says Sam, ‘because it’s very stable.
We bent the steel to form an upstand, which prevents any cooking spills landing on the floor behind, The worktop was also moulded at the front to form a waterfall edge profile, which stops oils and fluids dripping over. “It’s something you find in commercial kitchens, It also allowed us to do away with an overhang, so the worktop sits neatly flush to the units.”
Q