Trends New Zealand Trends Volume 32 No 2 New Zealand | Page 29

Designing a kitchen for a compact holiday
home requires addressing some key factors – for
example, if it’s part of an open-plan living area
it may need to visually downplay its practical
use. And, given a getaway’s often limited floor
space, multipurpose functionality is also a plus.
Architect Evelyn McNamara designed this
home and the kitchen in it as a movable feast – a
design that could work in any scenic location.
The prototype nestles in a grove of tree ferns.
The house has solid end walls for privacy and
long glass-clad side walls to stay close to nature.
The central kitchen, bathroom and laundry pod

is effectively a rectangle within a rectangle –
with corridors leading down the sides of the pod
to two bedrooms at the back, says McNamara.
“Given the modest size of this living and
kitchen volume, I wanted the kitchen to recede
visually and add a sense of depth to the space.”
To this end, most elements are black. The
cabinetry fronts are black-stained chipboard,
and the island waterfall benchtop and carcass
are in black Corian, while the island’s knee
recess is in black cedar – a continuation of its use
on the exterior cladding and interior end walls.
Black, backpainted glass forms the splashback.

Previous pages: This kitchen looks
modest in size but is actually
4.7m wide. The black cabinetry,
splashback and benchtop surfaces
bring depth to the open-plan space.
Above left and top: Versatile agenda
– the freestanding wood table looks
like an extension of the island’s
worksurface but it can also be
relocated and used as a dining table.
Above: Black Corian waterfall edges
on the island add a glossy feature.

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