Client Brief

  The homeowners required:

• Bench space for two people to work, one on each side of the sink
• Seating space for two people in kitchen
• Easily accessed storage
• Clear task lighting
• Style with soft, natural curves; fun, lively and dramatic but not dominating
• Environmentally-friendly materials and finishes
• Compost and dry rubbish out of sight but easily accessed
• Somewhere to feed cats dogs
• A water filter

  Problems
  The existing kitchen had insufficient bench space for two cooks, and   had little easily accessed storage. The most useful storage was the   pantry but too much walking was required from the bench to the pantry.

  There were cold draughts from the stairwell blowing into the kitchen   and living areas.

  The dining area was cramped and one step up from the kitchen. Part   of the dining area was taken up by a box built over the stairwell, which   came up into the room.

  Solution
  The kitchen and dining areas were exchanged. The advantage is that   the new kitchen no longer has through traffic, allowing substantially   more usable bench space and storage in a compact layout that   minimises walking.

  The raised floor in the old dining room was removed and the stairwell   protruding into the room was hidden by the new kitchen cabinetry.

  The old kitchen area became a larger dining space.

  A sliding door closing off the stairs down slides into a new partition   wall adjacent to the fridge.