bellspool kitchen
Kitchen commission in a former steading building in the Scottish Borders. The client was very in tune with the natural world, running various woodland workshops and vegan centric accommodation from the site, so a simple sustainability was important. Presented with a brief of longevity, sensibility and a belief in material. Fundamental to the brief was the integration of traditional heirloom drawer units, the concrete and oak kitchen had to reflect the existing architecture of the steading whilst adhering to fundamental modernist values - proving quality material, used generously, works.
The design combines weighty materials that offer quality and longevity with a lightness of composition to produce a modernist take on a traditional shaker kitchen. The design brief required the integration of heirloom oak drawers which saw us add false shadow gaps to the modernist cabinetry, taking a visual que from the original peices. The studio also created a dramatic curve as part of the island to be in conversation with the arched historic steading windows. The Studio’s in depth knowledge and 20 year experience of working with concrete proved invaluable when balancing one side of the kitchen island with inbuilt cabinetry and another side with a cantilever supporting open shelving. Here, a knowledge around the thickness of concrete and how it would interact with the timber work has been vital to maximise the potential of the composition. This is seen in the curved splashback on the sink worktop. Seamless flow between wall and worktop allows for the above space to be left clear, giving the composition room to breathe.
This island was intended to be a celebration of concrete as material. Structurally the island is ambitious. The curved cantilever represents a successful engineering challenge, giving weightlessness and drama to an object designed to outlive the house. The mix has been plasticised and vibrated in a very intentional way, demonstrating the intricate patterns that can form as the material settles. There’s a flow and subtlety that displays the unique materiality of concrete. Choices of aggregate shape, and mix design allow me to accentuate the inherent properties of the material.
As an added request, due to the clients material sensibility we cast crystals into the underside of the worktop. Discrete, but there to be conveiently engaged with.
