TIDA award-winning kitchens showcase sleek, contemporary design

by Colleen Hawkes, stuff

What's hot in kitchen design for 2018?

Check out the three winners in this year's Trends International Design Awards (TIDA) New Zealand Kitchens and you can see it's all about sleek lines, crisp detailing and timber. Two of the three winners feature streamlined timber cabinetry, while the third has a textural timber ceiling and bespoke matching bulkhead.

Kirsty Davis of Hagley Kitchens, Christchurch took out the Designer Kitchen Award with a pared-back kitchen that's an integral part of the large, open-plan living space in a new home.

Davis says the owners wanted a generous island with space for casual seating. "In response, we designed the large, 6m-long central island with a mitred waterfall benchtop at one end and a gravity-defying 1.2m-long cantilever at the other, making it a feature and a secondary, informal dining space."

The rear wall of the kitchen is a bank of sleek, vinyl cabinetry with integrated ovens. Additional appliances, storage and a prep area is provided in a large scullery behind the kitchen. An absence of visible handles retains the sleek, minimalist lines.

Another talking point in this kitchen is the rich rimu batten ceiling, which has black negative detailing. Davis designed a matching drop-down bulkhead to seamlessly house the cassette rangehood and ducted ventilation.

The TIDA Architect-designed Kitchen Award winner was Strachan Group Architects, with Roy Tebbutt as project architect.

The kitchen is in a new coastal house that has a strong architectural presence.

Tebbutt says the home's black horizontal cladding is a design reference to the surrounding striated sandstone cliffs, while vertical timber elements add warmth and contrast.

"This dramatic two-tone exterior is echoed in the kitchen's strong, simple material palette." 

Hoop pine plywood cabinetry with recessed handles enhances the sculptural look of the kitchen. Similar ply wraps the ceiling.

The island features a matt black folded steel surround topped with a bead-blasted stainless steel bench. Geometric folds in the metal provide leg room for the bar stools.

This kitchen also has a scullery, accessed through a hidden door in the cabinetry.

A third kitchen by the Matisse design team headed by Alan Bertenshaw and Maria Pomeroy won the TIDA Imported Kitchen Award.

This kitchen was created for a Christchurch home nestled in the Port Hills.

Bertenshaw says the owners wanted an organic aesthetic that would be in keeping with the sweeping bush outlooks, rather than something too symmetrical and fussy. "In addition, the couple wanted the kitchen to be harmonious with the exterior of the home, which was built from stone and wood, with hints of copper."

The designer says the owners also wanted the kitchen to have a measured, elegant Japanese feel.

To this end, the designers specified a minimalist kitchen from Arclinea's Gamma series. The cabinetry features a "natural touch finish veneer timber in elm", which was chosen for its refined, tactile finish.

"We contrasted the generous use of wood with soft matt black surfaces on the island, benchtop, toekicks and at one end of the upper wall cabinetry, where it helps avoid a strictly symmetrical look," says Bertenshaw.

The dark finish is from Arclinea's Armour range. The rear benchtop and splashback are stainless steel to provide soft reflections.

To further enhance the Zen-like feel, the fridge and pantry are integrated, the rangehood is hidden in the upper cabinets and the hob and sinks are set flush in the benchtops.