Remuera Kitchen

The clients live in a beautiful, architecturally designed home. However, their previous kitchen felt dark, hard and uninviting and was a real challenge to keep clean. They liked the light, Scandinavian look, and wanted some interesting aspects incorporated into the new design, but nothing too dominating or showy. One of the challenges was to ensure the low ceiling and support posts (which couldn’t be removed or altered) were made as visually understated as possible.

Natalie Du Bois felt Corian® was the perfect product to use to have a bit of fun creating something unique, sculptural and seamless. The easy care and tactile attributes of Corian® were certain to impress her clients.

In this awe-inspiring design, the Corian® wrapped rangehood housing and the seamless Corian® island with visual statement of mixed width and depth of shaped Corian® flutes is highlighted by the subtle LED lighting. A mix of textures created by the flutes combined with the velvety shaped island top this is then teamed up brushed oak flooring and oak internal cabinetry compliments the smooth and tactile Corian® perfectly.

To minimise the cumbersome post and detract from the low ceiling, Corian® has been shaped seamlessly around the post and all the colours have been kept light and in tone with each other. The adjoining bathroom behind the kitchen was reconfigured into a butler’s pantry which showcased a smooth long Corian® benchtop for extra prepping work outside of the main kitchen area – this can be visible from the kitchen area which makes the overall feel of the kitchen much larger or can be shut off by the cavity sliding doors to hide mess of give privacy whilst doing preparation work. A slim window was designed to allow in a sneak of natural light.

This subdued soft off-white pallet was chosen for the walls, cabinetry and surfaces, and then teamed with the warmth of brushed French oak flooring, bar stools, wall hooks (in the pantry) and all cabinet interiors are finished in oak Melamine to give the room the desired modern Scandinavian feel. The complete island and rangehood housing are made from Corian®, with matching feature panels channelled in various thicknesses and depths, then lit with the LED lighting to give the room a point of difference and interest.

“Within the kitchen space the complete seamless island and rangehood housing are made from Corian, with matching feature panels channelled in various thicknesses and depths, then lit with the LED lighting to give the room a point of difference and interest. My Corian fabricator Topline loved the challenge of creating the flutes and the seamless island. A very proud moment afterwards for both me as the designer and the fabricators involved. Designing unique project where my clients trusted my vision – seeing their happy faces at the end makes the job so rewarding.” said Natalie Du Bois.