When Luke and Estelle Chandresinghe of London-based Undercover Architects renovated their 19th-century townhouse, the kitchen is what gave them the most trouble. In fact, they did it twice. “The kitchen, which is quite small, is the one space we struggled to get right,” Luke says. They integrated storage into the kitchen island and designed the kind of custom solutions you’d expect to find in an architect’s own kitchen. The finishes include a mix of blackened steel, blanco marble, and evocative color. Here’s a closer look.
Photography courtesy of Michelle Young.
Above: The bookcase-like coffee and tea station is painted a proprietary color. For a similar palette, see Farrow & Ball’s [product id=”603851″]Hague Blue[/product] and Little Greene’s [product id=”996421″]French Grey Mid[/product]. Stored on the shelves are wood-topped storage jars (try [product id=”601335″]Chabatree Limpid Jarsr[/product]) and small appliances: a [product id=”996426″]DeLonghi Nespresso Lattissima Touch Espresso Maker[/product], [product id=”996433″]KitchenAid Pro Line Electric Water Boiler[/product], and [product id=”613473″]Dualit New Generation Classic 4-Slice Toaster[/product]. Between appliances is a stacking three-tier cake tin from Garden Trading (no longer available). The countertops are polished white blanco marble.
Above: A [product id=”613488″]KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer[/product] is set up on the kitchen island.
Above: On the stovetop is a [product id=”610619″]Bialetti Moka Express 9-Cup Espresso Maker[/product]. A Caribbean blue Le Creuset [product id=”996438″]Salt Mill[/product] and [product id=”996436″]Pepper Mill[/product], [product id=”996442″]Waring Pro Health Juice Extractor[/product], and [product id=”602700″]Waring Pro Commercial Bar Blender[/product]. The pendant light is a simple twisted wire bulb pendant similar to Zangra’s customizable [product id=”996445″]Bakelite Pendant Lamp[/product] or Schoolhouse Electric’s [product id=”601209″]Lowell Pendant[/product] with a [product id=”996446″]G40 Clear Bulb[/product].
Above: The sculptural blackened steel hood and upper cabinets “are a nod to Donald Judd,” Luke says. The upper cabinets are painted in Little Greene’s [product id=”996448″]Basalt[/product] blue-black paint color; above the island is an oversize custom sheet-metal pendant light.
Above: The architects created a welded steel stand for the custom white blanco marble sink and paired it with a matte black [product id=”600670″]Vola Kitchen Single-Handle Faucet[/product].
Above: On the [product id=”996235″]Mercury 1200 Range Cooker[/product] is a [product id=”996450″]Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron Pan[/product]. In the hallway, a Stendig Calendar by Massimo Vignelli hangs on the wall.For more moody kitchens, see our posts:
- Kitchen of the Week: The Dinesen Wood Kitchen
- Kitchen of the Week: A Subtly Splendid Kitchen in North London
- 10 Favorites: Black Kitchen Backsplashes
N.B.: This story originally appeared on February 1, 2018 and has been updated.
