Technical sheet

Situaties II (vrij-blijvend)

Renovation of a compact kitchen and hallway, where spaces create freedom precisely by being well defined.

Space. It’s not something to waste lightly in this kitchen. The kitchen is compact, it needs to do a lot, but it mustn’t feel small. We begin by removing a door, which is to say: removing dead space. The kitchen gradually opens up. The only two tall cabinets are right by the entrance. They're close to everything and don’t block the light from the window. From there on, it’s countertop and recessed cupboards. Further along, a breakfast corner: cosy on the cushions, next to a small window overlooking the hallway. There are cupboards everywhere, but they stay calm. The space is light, but not stark white: a gently clouded cast floor, a light blue skirting, pink cushions. The kitchen sneaks out a little. One cabinet turns a corner at a certain height and suddenly becomes a cloakroom cupboard by the entrance. A shallower version for the utility meters. A kick plate in matching materials greets the bicycles in the narrow hallway. Everything has its place and that’s exactly what makes it possible to let go. Life fills in the rest.

Werk - 070

Like a tidy box of blocks

In a single-family home in Ghent, it's high time for a new kitchen. The existing one more or less works, but not without flaws. The materials are worn, a drawer sags, and not everything is where it should be. After decades of use, there’s been plenty of time to know how things could be better. The space is compact, yet it needs to accommodate quite a lot. Like a well-ordered box of building blocks, every part has to fit just right so that not a single square centimetre is wasted. There are long conversations about the desired functions and how the kitchen should be used.

Marge Coupure 01 — The door sits at one end of the room, with a window on the other side, facing the street. To make the narrow space feel as light and spacious as possible, all tall cabinets are placed near the door, so they don’t obstruct the daylight.

American diner booth

Breakfast is often enjoyed in the kitchen, in the sunlight near the façade. There used to be a small table here, but it was always in the way. A built-in seating area is integrated into the kitchen. Like in an American diner, fixed benches and a fixed table are built into the furniture. Beside the table, an internal window gives a view into the hallway so you can see who’s coming home or leaving for work in the morning. The puzzle continues here, too. Above the seating area are overhead cabinets for extra storage. On the opposite wall, aligned with the seating nook, tall cabinets house a bespoke cloakroom unit.

Warm materials

Together with the client, a palette is chosen that is calm, colourful and warm. Light blue laminate fronts up to the height of the worktop. Above, white laminate. Pink upholstery for the custom-made seating benches. Birch plywood for the sides and bases of the cabinets. Corian worktops. A warm white speckled poured floor. The detailing is simple: all cupboards and drawers open via small round routed grips.