“When I do my kitchens, it’s two materials, three max,” Pali says. Here, the palette is stainless steel on the countertops with aluminum and dark-chocolate-stained walnut on the cabinet faces. At the cabinet wall, a symmetrical layout of aluminum-trimmed walnut doors incorporates twin refrigerators, a wall oven, and a flush-mounted microwave and flat-screen TV. The floor is a concrete topping slab that was ground, sealed, and waxed. The two-island layout offers a variety of seating options and cooking stations, Pali says. “The idea there is the island closest to the wall cabinets is the work island. Nobody goes there; that’s your space.” The second island provides a seating area and overflow counter space.
Builder: William Kent Development, Los Angeles; Architect: Studio Pali Fekete, Culver City, Calif.; Project size: 275 square feet; Construction cost: Withheld; Photographer: Claudio Santini.
Resources:
Entry doors: Fleetwood Aluminum Products; Glass tile flooring: Ann Sacks; Kitchen plumbing fittings/fixtures: Dornbracht; Lighting fixtures: Artemide and Lightwave Lighting Co.; Oven: Gaggenau; Refrigerator: Sub-Zero; Windows: U.S. Aluminum; Wood flooring: Weber.
Details
Open on three sides to a larger living space, this kitchen reinforces its boundaries with a dropped ceiling. Edged in aluminum, the ceiling appears to cantilever over the walnut-clad storage wall and gives the kitchen the sense of occupying a precisely defined volume. It also serves as a large lighting fixture, with recessed cans providing working light and recessed cove fixtures washing the upper ceiling with a gentle glow that doesn’t interfere with the view.
