The third annual Watermark Awards, jointly sponsored by CUSTOM HOME and BUILDER magazines, celebrates the fine art of kitchen and bath design. The competition is dedicated to honoring design excellence for these two most important rooms. This year’s winners, selected by a panel of design experts, demonstrate kitchen and bath design of the highest order. Many thanks to the judges of this year’s competition; they were Rhonda Ellisor, Miller and Smith, McLean, Va.; Ali Honarkar, DivisionOne Architects, Rockville, Md.; Janis M. Magnuson, CKD, Kitchen Classics by Custom Crafters, Annandale, Va.; and Mary Jo
Grand Award
Best Kitchen in a Multi-family House Washington, D.C.
When this row house was built in the early 20th century, kitchens didn’t get much respect. Its original kitchen was an awkward pipe-shaped space walled off from the rest of the main living areas. Architect David Knudson’s problem was to improve the functionality, appearance, and flow of the room within the confines of the existing walls.
The kitchen configuration encompassed an 18-by-5½-foot galley with appliances lined up along the party wall and a 10-by-6-foot breakfast area facing the backyard. Knudson moved the breakfast room to an adjacent enclosed porch, capturing the best part of the space for the new kitchen.
A new L-shaped layout makes full use of the old table space. Knudson eschewed wall-hung cabinets in favor of open shelves that make the small space seem bigger. Open and closed base cabinets provide some additional storage, but a 5½-by-8½-foot pantry solves the storage problem while truncating the narrow 18-foot-long “pipe stem” of the original kitchen. At the other end of the kitchen, where two standard windows once shed some light, a big bay window pops out the rear wall, increasing the light and visually expanding the space.
To improve the flow of the kitchen with the rest of the house, Knudson replaced the wall between the kitchen and the new breakfast room with a small peninsula and opened the breakfast room to the dining room. This move “completely changed the character of the house by allowing the living spaces to interact and flow from the front of the house to the back,” he says. “Very clever,” declared the judges.
Entrant/Architect: David Knudson, AIA, Washington, D.C.; Builder: John Lewando, Takoma Park, Md.; Photographer: Kenneth M. Wyner.
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Best Kitchen in a Custom Home Less Than 3,000 Square Feet
Washington, D.C.
Small, efficient, and smart, this kitchen sets a Contemporary tone for the new town-house built on an alley in Washington, D.C.’s bustling Georgetown neighborhood. With a footprint of just 800 square feet, the two-story living area challenged architect Stephen Vanze to create a sense of spaciousness while including a kitchen well stocked with style and conveniences.
Vanze gave a twist to the kitchen plan, gently angling the peninsula out into the living/dining space. The slight angle “enlivens the space,” he says. It also forces sight lines to be diagonal to the room, creating the illusion of a larger space.
Because the kitchen occupies pride of place in the firs floor plan, Vanze outfitted it with practical, hardworking components that look like “elegant pieces of Modern furniture.” Glossy white cabinets, warm wood accent pieces, and stainless steel surfaces are interlocked in a sophisticated composition. The peninsula sits up on stainless steel legs that give it the appearance of a freestanding cabinet from the living area. The stainless steel cooking counter bridges the peninsula and the rear sink counter, with nothing but open space below, an unexpected gesture in a tiny kitchen. But it allows the dark concrete floor to flow unstopped, which contributes to the apparent roominess.
The judges found Vanze’s minimalist design an excellent use of a small space. “Great style,” they said.
Entrant/Architect: Barnes Vanze Architects, Washington, D.C.; Builder: Kadcon Corp., Washington, D.C.; Developer: Eastbanc Inc., Washington, D.C.; Photographer: Hoachlander–Davis Photography.
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