Camden Square Kitchen
The lower ground floor kitchen of this gracious Early Victorian semi was dark and oppressive, isolated from the garden by a rear corridor and a low beam. We put a new beam within the floor thickness above, removed the separation between kitchen and corridor, and replaced the rear window with arched-head french doors.
Our bespoke kitchen is designed around a curved central island / breakfast bar. Two maple-fronted larders frame open shelving on the original chimney breast. To remove visual barriers to the glazed doors, the piers of the main back structural wall are concealed – to the left by a maple panel and to the right by a convex curved partition complementing the concave side of the island.
A similar generally symmetrical arrangement occurs in the main working area of the kitchen, with stainless-steel fronted units framing a large bank of spray-painted drawers at low level and back-painted glass fronted wall units at high level. All tall units are full height to make the most of the limited ceiling height.
The floor is a visually and physically warm (underfloor heated) white cement screed with clear epoxy finish. It tones in with both the maple joinery and the York stone external paving.
White corona countertop with drilled drainage grooves sails over the island base. Although the central area of glass opposite is back painted pure white, it appears aqua, which in the case we wanted as it relates to the green paintwork.
We extended the short arch-headed windows down to the floor to help the space flow outdoors. The small garden is paved with sawn York stone slabs, with wide steps down to kitchen level. A gas charcoal grille is built into a slate countertop on a buff brick base which extends to frame a built-in planter.
Catherine W Hays writes:
Working with Dale and Neil was a pleasurable and fun experience which stays with us today - our friends call it our 'Cosmic Kitchen' and indeed, we are very proud. Dale and Neil made it all happen with great ease and they were so easy to get along with. It was a joy to work with a team where you know that you can trust their design judgement 100%. We really appreciated that they made themselves readily available and took our likes and dislikes seriously.
They worked to deadline, kept to the budget and were so sympathetic to the heritage of the house. I have seen Victorian houses like ours disappear under a contemporary whitewash of the past - Dale and Neil know how 'modernise', but not lose the soul of an old house which is a remarkable feat.