We always feel it is a privilege to create a one-off kitchen where we have the opportunity to tell a story and create a design that resonates personally with the commissioner. In this project for private clients, we were not short on inspiration, being authors and art collectors there was plenty to muse over, but when we hit on the clients’ highly regarded whisky collection, we could see the vision coming together.
Our brief was to create a kitchen to sit within a large multi use space, in a period barn. The barn had been divided into four zones, kitchen, dining, snug and a mezzanine office.
A double-sided chimney warms both the dining area and the snug, and the mezzanine offers a more private but still connected workspace.
Inspired by whisky distilleries, with their gleaming copper stills, and split oak barrels bound in metal hoops, we created a cask-like island, with a raised bar for enjoying the said elixir!
The horse shoe-shape island is hollow allowing bar stools to be stowed away when not in use, and contains a wine cooler. The ergonomic drum shape of the island also connects the kitchen to the living space, rather than acting like a barrier.
A custom Splinter Works copper and oak light above the island, gives controllable task lighting, especially useful with the varying vaulted ceiling heights.
Using the darker coloured wood of walnut on the bar (and in touches throughout the kitchen) nicely references the owners’ antique furniture and helps to create that synergy, that the clients were aiming for, between the contemporary, and the traditional.
We created a floating shelf in walnut to act as a welcoming surface from the main entrance. It was the ideal place to showcase the owners’ smaller sculptures, and sets the tone for the whole space.
The illusion of delicacy is created by the cylindrical copper fixings that connect the shelf to the wall. On the reverse in the kitchen side, it is a cutlery drawer.
The copper accents are warm and sophisticated, and it makes a perfect splash-back for the hob. The oak beam above the Everhot cooker discreetly hides the extraction and lighting.
Farrow & Ball painted cupboards subtly allude to the verdigris colour of copper patina.
Copper + Cask is another example of a Splinter Works kitchen which is more akin to a living room than a kitchen, where you can cook, create, chat and relax.
