Striking Surrey Siren

The initial client's brief was to create a unique and quirky family home that was very user friendly, but also a great party house! The clients came to us with some initial plans from their architect but the flow wasn’t working.

My client loves to cook and during our “Drill Down Chat” we spent a lot of time analysing how he likes to use a kitchen. A breakfast station and cocktail bar were on the wish list along with Crittall doors and parquet flooring. The floor plan and concept stages brought together the whole design, with the kitchen being moved to a more accessible part of the space, leaving more space for dining and dancing! We created a wall of doors leading to a hidden pantry, utility, breakfast station and cocktail bar.

Three kids means lots of noise, so the clients were clear they would love to find ways of reducing this. This is how we selected our first quirky material choice of cork. We sourced some incredible cladding, allowing us to create a magical wall of hidden doors, which not only look sensational but also work well as a sound absorber. Both the breakfast station and cocktail bar are hidden behind sliding pocket doors allowing them to be in use at different parts of the day.

For the large island we selected a warm quartz with a bronze vein that then transitions into a liquid metal breakfast bar to get the party going! This party spirit is continued in the lit, gold leaf cocktail cupboard, which glows up beautifully at night. Our client loves plants and nature so we reflected this with rich green cabinetry and decorative shelving for plants . The cork we chose also has a beautiful green undertone and to contrast with this we chose to add rustic brick slips along the kitchen wall.

The diverse material palette is what we feel makes this project stand out from the crowd, proving a practical family kitchen can still have a wow factor!