Best Sustainable Kitchen
Room with a View
Laurie Belinda Haefele
Laurie Belinda Haefele, who has been designing inspired rooms for nearly 20
years, incorporated naturally beautiful views and an optimal climate for
indoor/outdoor living into a seamless kitchen design for a young
environmentally conscious California couple. The design philosophy supporting
the entire house is one of openness with a continuation of usable, livable
space flowing into the outdoors.
In a home created to be one vast outdoor living space, it was imperative to
showcase the kitchen with beauty, but also functionality. A concealed cleanup
sink is hidden around a corner, and appliances, including a dumbwaiter, hide
discretely behind large pocket doors. An oversized table attached to the
kitchen island is an ideal spot for culinary staging and large gatherings. The
height of the kitchen countertop, cabinet box and toe kick continue through the
floor-to-ceiling window and align exactly with that of the exterior barbecue.
Indoors flows into outdoors without fanfare, and this detail creates an almost
illusionary visual effect. To accommodate the clients
’ concern for the effect on the environment, Haefele worked with a local cabinet
manufacturer to save on fuel for shipping. The cabinetry carcass box is made of
zero-emission certified plywood, and the finish is a reconstituted wengewood.
In addition, the material used on the countertops, backsplashes and integrated
sinks is a manmade material of white recycled stone chips that doesn
’t absorb the sun’s heat through the full wall of glass. To further protect from an over-heated
space, the skylight has a heat deterrent and ultra violet protecting film. The
kitchen has an abundance of natural light during the day, and at night,
fluorescent lighting and dimmer switches on other fixtures contribute to the
household conservation effort. A double pull-out trash bin is located at each
sink. The cleanup sink
’s second bin is used for recycling, and the prep sink’s second bin is used for composting material. Low VOC paint graces the walls of
the kitchen and remainder of the home. Project sponsored by GE Monogram.
First Place Winner--Small Kitchens
Contemporary Cooking
Jennifer L. Gilmer, CKD
This Maryland townhouse was in need of a kitchen renovation. Although the style
of the home is traditional, the client was seeking a cutting-edge design for
her new kitchen and was looking to convey a contemporary style, more in keeping
with her own. The client
’s work takes her to exotic locations all over the world, and her wish was to
incorporate the unique objects d
’art she has gathered in her travels into an artistic and personalized space. The
broad shelves over two side-by-side ovens offer just the showplace for some of
her collection.
Two single ovens, rather than double units, uphold the sleek design of the room.
Mother-of-pearl granite countertops and frosted glass tiles create a bright
balance to the darker cabinets. A socially accommodating kitchen came about by
turning the island in the opposite direction and diverting the table space away
from the window to the back of the island.
The First Place Winner-Medium Kitchens by Jennifer Gilmer was also the Pinnacle Award winner, Ocean Oasis.
First Place Winner-Large Kitchens
French Cooking at the Beach
Cameron M. Snyder, CKD
Snyder’s clients, parents of five children who like to entertain, had an oceanfront
home that required not only a family-accommodating kitchen, but one fit for a
chef. The husband was a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Paris
and wanted the functionality
of a commercial kitchen. His wife wanted to blend her own workspace into the
area without sacrificing elegant entertaining space.
Durable appliances were needed to meet the demands of use by a chef and large
family. A gas cook top with a French burner in the center, a steam oven,
convection oven, speed ovens and a warming drawer are all tools of the trade
for a professionally trained chef. The home leans toward the contemporary, and
in keeping the lines simple, the design includes horizontal grain rift-cut wood
cabinets, stainless steel, bamboo floors, an onyx backsplash, and concrete and
stone counters.
The First Place Winner–Open Plan Kitchens by Siri Evju was also the winner of Best Overall Kitchen, Teak Retreat.
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to enhance member success and excellence, promote professionalism and ethical
business practices and provide leadership and direction for the kitchen and
bath industry. For more information, visit
www.nkba.org.
