Working with a mere 1,250 square feet of total living space, architect Belmont Freeman managed to make this 12-by-8-foot Manhattan kitchen seem airy. Never mind that the multi-tasking alcove also serves as laundry room, coat closet, and pantry. Not to mention that kitchen wares fit neatly into place without the benefit of upper cabinets. “Our aspiration was to keep it clean and completely open so it didn’t look too much like a kitchen, while sustaining views out to the Brooklyn Bridge,” says Freeman. Not a bad goal. Floor-to-ceiling maple cabinets conceal most of the multiple functions while an 8-foot-by-3-foot hollow island offers generous drawers and ample prep and serving surface. The cantilevered maple rectangle gets support from a steel blade that seemingly disappears through clever optical trickery involving purposefully patterned score lines in the concrete floor. Stainless steel cabinets, appliances, countertop, backsplash, and wall covering bounce light around the windowless niche. Freeman praises the “miracle metal fabricators” who, among other feats, produced a micro-peened finish on the stainless wall. “It gives the metal zillions of miniscule dents that render the surface velvety smooth, but resistant to fingerprints,” he says.
Keeping with the anti-kitchen theme, the stovetop vent sits flush with the ceiling, and a recessed groove hides the fluorescent light fixture. Despite jam-packed appliances along the rear wall (including washer and dryer), serenity is maintained thanks to the symmetry of each component being 2 feet wide. “We went to extreme pains to make this artistic minimalist composition,” says Freeman, “but it’s still a highly usable kitchen.”
Builder: Bryan Deuitch, New York City; Architect: Belmont Freeman Architects, New York City; Lighting designer: Ann Kale Associates, New York City; Stainless steel fabricator: Noris Metals, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Photographer: Christopher Wesnofske Resources: Appliances: Miele; Plumbing fixtures: Speakman, and T&S Brassworks; Refrigerator: Traulsen.
