SMALL SPACES, BIG IDEAS
THESE SMALL-SPACE STRATEGIES WILL HELP MAKE THE MOST OF A COMPACT ROOM
FEATURE Hugh Metcalf
DESIGN CRINA ARCHITECTURE AND TALA FUSTOK STUDIO; (5) PION STUDIO
STYLING BEA LAMBOS; (10) CARMEL BRANTLEY
1 ADD A PULL- OUT WORK TOP
Worktop space is valuable, but for a small kitchen that’s not overloaded with surface space when you’re not cooking, designers are turning to ex tendable worktops. ‘To amplify this compact space, we incorporated a pull-out countertop that immediately adds that level of versatility to aworking yet premium kitchen.’
Tala Fustok, founder of Tala Fustok Studio
2 USE WINDOWSILLS
In a London home, architect Robert Houmøller paid close attention to the interaction between the kitchen’s worktop and windows to make the most of the space. ‘Bringing the sill height down to worktop level results in adeeper, more generous worktop as the windows are set within the depth of the wall, as well as maximising the light and views. Not having asplashback means there is one less surface to deal with so helps to reduce the amount of visual clutter.’
Robert Houmøller, founder of Merrett Houmøller Architects
3 EXTEND SURFACES
For his own kitchen, architect Christopher Brandon used a simple trick of creating a cover for the sink from the same surface material, so it can be used as a way to extend the worktop. ‘My wife loves to entertain and wanted to have a beautiful sink to fill with ice and drinks during parties, but she also wanted to keep the functionality of having a full worktop. This idea evolved into this integrated marble sink, which is aspace optimiser, aesthetically beautiful, and a conversation starter.’
Christopher Brandon, founder of Brandon Architects
4 GO ISLAND-LESS
‘The best layout will depend on the shape of the space that your kitchen is intending to fill. But no matter what shape, for a kitchen without an island, we recommend placing the hob and sink closer to each other – 23.5 inches to 40 inches would be ideal –and the fridge closer to the sink. For an L-shape kitchen, we would place the sink and dishwasher on the shorter side and the hob on the longer side. For a galley kitchen, depending on the size of the room, sink, fridge and freezer on one side and hob, ovens, and larder on the other side.’
Oana Sandu, lead designer at Blakes London
5 ‘CHOP’ AN ISLAND
In small kitchens, we’re seeing half-islands ‘chopped’ into triangular shapes as an alternative to full size set-ups, and they’re just as dynamic and useful. This was the solution for an awkwardly shaped apartment designed by Studio Akurat. ‘After trial and error we came up with this solution. We tried different solutions and strongly felt that a rectangular kitchen island would work
