Maple, marble and orange in a relocated Hackney kitchen
Designed in collaboration with Archmongers, this bespoke kitchen sits at the front of the upper ground floor of a four-storey Victorian terrace in Hackney. Most houses like this traditionally have the kitchen at the rear, but here it is the first room you enter, becoming the social heart of the home.
Style: Base units and island are Linear; tall cabinets at Overlay
Hob: Bora X Pure
Ovens: Miele
Tap: Quooker in patinated brass
Sink: Blanco Subline, white
Worktop: 20mm Carrara marble
Door colour: Bright orange and maple veneer
Architect: Archmongers
The clients are a young creative couple with children who love to cook. Every decision in the layout supports that. The island anchors the plan, setting up an ergonomic cooking zone around the hob, sink and preparation area. Opposite, a run of tall units houses a full-height fridge freezer, a narrow pantry cupboard and the ovens. This is a smart arrangement that keeps the working kitchen tightly organised.
All cabinetry is in our Linear style. The base and tall units are finished in maple veneer; the island is clad in a vivid orange laminate, which is a bold choice that gives the kitchen its personality. Beneath the island, an extra-high mirrored plinth reflects the floor, allowing the mass to appear to float and keeping the room feeling open and unencumbered.
The worktops are marble: which always grounds a kitchen with its substantial presence. Here it helps to connect the contemporary design to the period property.
Our ambition was to transform a typical Victorian house into a warm, energy-efficient and connected family home. Like many houses of the era, it suffered from cold, disconnected interiors, so an ambitious thermal and spatial strategy informed the project from the outset. While the house was extended across three floors, the additions were deliberately modest and used primarily to improve circulation and connect spaces more effectively.
Relocating the kitchen from the basement to the ground floor was central to this approach, allowing it to become both the social heart of the house and a key organising element within the plan. We wanted the kitchen to feel fully integrated into the wider architectural strategy and were keen to work with Uncommon from the outset. They understood the design intent immediately and were able to develop our general ideas into a resolved kitchen design that sits naturally within the spaces and interior concepts of the project.
It was reassuring to know the kitchen was in safe hands, allowing us to focus on the wider architectural challenges of the house.”
Johan Hybschmann, director, Archmongers
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