Kitchen Concept Designer of the Year 2025
Araminta Glenn
Entry for Kitchen Concept Designer of the Year 2025.
In response to the brief, I designed a multifunctional living space, with kitchen, dining, utility and entertaining areas. Focusing on merging of styles into a coherent, functional space that is in keeping with the contemporary finish of the rest of the house. I have taken into consideration the busy lifestyles of the clients, who both have creative jobs in marketing. As young professionals, they will need everything to be accessible, with plenty of space for cooking and entertaining while still creating impact from the design details.
The design was created to be future-forward by creating lots of space, with a free flow to all the main areas of the kitchen. Lots of seating for dinner parties and future family expansion. Along with creating a clear path from the hallway to the garden, opening up the space to lots of natural light.
One of the most important aspects of the design was to make the room multifunctional without adding extra walls and interior doors. I created this by sectioning the room with different areas of storage and adding in a hide and slide unit for stacked laundry appliances with a utility unit to the left-hand side of the sink. This is also close to the sink for access to a water supply and storage for cleaning products, with utility baskets built into the island opposite the washing machine for ease of use.
The main island I have kept clear of appliances and sinks to create a large working space for both prep and serving of food, along with having the breakfast bar for entertaining. The dining and storage area is on the right-hand side of the room, which helps zone out the room into the different functional areas.
In relation to technical advances, I have chosen Siemens appliances with their high-tech home connect functions, Sensio lighting for their multi-light connective functions, and a Kaelo drinks chiller with their new control app, making the kitchen controllable from their phones. I have also specified a Quooker boiling tap with Cube for sparkling and chilled water function, as an alternative for Libby and Stephen, as they aren’t big drinkers. Along with the Quooker’s safety features, keeping the environment safe for when they have children. As they are both young professionals, I have added two flip sockets to the worktop at the breakfast bar to give them flexibility to work in the kitchen.
The colour palette has been kept very neutral whilst making a feature of the micro cement finish on the walls, ceiling and floor. I have layered warm textures of detailed wood with concrete, antique mirrors and sleek handleless doors, to create interest and depth of space. I have used a lighter patterned worktop to reflect the micro cement finish. The selected material for the worktop is Dekton to maximise durability and heat resistance, which will add to the longevity of the kitchen whilst also creating a luxury space.
