Project Description
How does one integrate a light-flooded, modern kitchen into a
historically significant home without disrupting the integrity of the
exterior elevations?
For Stuart Silk Architects, the solution
took surgical form — with a little rearrangement and augmentation. By
squaring out the back of the home, room was created for a strikingly
austere yet inviting eat-in kitchen that opens graciously onto an
adjoining family room.
The kitchen combines a minimalist
aesthetic with the warmth of dark-stained, rift-cut white oak cabinets.
Among its most striking features is a sculptural island, its massiveness
diminished by two L-shaped, nickel “wings” topped by 3-inch-thick,
Calcutta marble shelves. “It seems to float,” said the judges, also
noting the project’s “quietude.”
The supports were locally
fabricated, as was the custom stainless steel hood that, along with a
simple marble shelf, enhances the room’s expansiveness and
functionality. The kitchen was part of a four-phase whole-house
renovation that received a Built Green certification from King and
Snohomish Counties.