Sliding doors
When it’s time to entertain, this showcase island becomes party central while the rest of the kitchen quietly disappears behind closed doors.
By their nature, kitchens are practical places, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be refined and elegant – or even invisible. That was the concept behind this now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t Sydney kitchen by interior designer Janson Sadler of Sona Studio.
In their brief to Janson, the owners, a pair of keen entertainers, called for a “discreet” kitchen. They wanted a space that could easily slip into ‘hosting mode’, where all utilitarian elements could be hidden behind closed doors at a moment’s notice.
In response, Janson designed a showcase island measuring 3x1.3 metres, topped with a magnificent slab of black marble. This is the party-ready ‘face’ of the kitchen. All the pragmatic fittings, including the integrated fridge/freezer, pantry and storage, are housed within the back wall of joinery. Even the sink, cooktop and dishwasher are contained in a 3-metre-wide section of closeable cabinetry so they, too, can be concealed when desired.
When the sink area is in use, the front panels simply slide open and stack away at both ends of the benchtop, without encroaching on the circulation space. “For a concept like this to work, hardware needs to be durable, efficient and easy to use,” says Janson, who installed Häfele’s ‘Hawa Folding Concepta 25’.
Dark tones emerged as the natural palette for this sophisticated space. The joinery is black-stained oak, teamed with black marble splashback/benchtops and offset by polished terrazzo flooring – all beautiful, durable surfaces perfect for everyday cooking and as a sleek backdrop for entertaining.
Sona Studio; sona.studio.