ON THE MOVE
Even the biggest fans of open-plan living will admit it’s time for a refresh. Don’t panic. We are not suggesting that you to revert back to a separate kitchen, living and dining room, you understand. Simply open your mind to a new way to zone an open-plan space.
This new way comes courtesy of Häcker Kitchens, which presented its Moving Kitchen concept at EuroCucina earlier this year. A collaboration with interior architect and designer Jochen Flacke, the crucial element of Moving Kitchen is a large, rectangular steel frame-work that is used to separate the kitchen from the dining area. Storage on both sides can be customised to suit its owner’s cooking and eating needs. Most importantly, however, a 23 cm-thick work surface that’s almost five metres long slices through the centre of the struc-ture. This means the kitchen and dining room can be made bigger or smaller, simply by sliding the work surface through the structure.
“Our environment is changing,” says Jochen Flacke. “Spaces are being used in a more versatile and efficient way, and the kitchen has again moved towards being the centre of life. It was important for us to rethink the outward appearance of the kitchen.”
Moving Kitchen is not Häcker’s only concession to flexibility. Faro – from its classic series – has been updated in on-trend high-gloss pearl grey and given new handles (worked into the front of the cabinet for a modern, linear look). Moreover, Faro offers a moving element in the form of a countertop that can be raised up to 30 centimetres and, therefore, opti-mised to suit whatever job needs doing.
It is a similar story at Ernestomeda, which wowed EuroCucina with its Soul kitchen. The version on show featured the Cyclos table, which transforms from a snack top into a dining table by rotating on a pivot through 90 degrees or 180 degrees.
Flexibility in the kitchen is not restricted to technological solutions. Sometimes it is as sim-ple as the under-counter trolley featured in Vincent Van Duysen’s VVD kitchen for Dada. Set on wheels, it can be easily moved to any part of the kitchen, but tucks neatly away when it is no longer required.