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Kitchen Design
For many, it's the heart of the home and as such, it’s essential that your kitchen be customised to your individual needs and lifestyle- we will ensure your personal requirements are included in the kitchen planning process, as a result you will not only achieve optimal room utilisation but quality of motion in your kitchen design.
Dynamic Space is a kitchen planning tool our designers use to ensure your new kitchen provides you with the perfect working and living environment. We use it to optimise work flows, ensure better space utilisation and quality of motion.
So what can dynamic space do for you? Dynamic space takes into account the following aspects to ensure your kitchen is planned and designed to its optimum:
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Sufficient storage space
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Optimal workflows
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More quality of motion
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Better Ergonomics
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Optimal access
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STORAGE
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WORKFLOWS
A properly planned kitchen and the right layout will save time and energy and will shorten distances
travelled. Zone planning is used to define the proper allocation and equipment for the five most important
kitchen zones: consumables, non-consumables, cleaning, preparation and cooking. Proper allocation of
zones and arranging them to suit workflows will shorten the distance you travel, simplify workflows and
make everyday activities quick and easy.
The “consumables zone is
used to store customer goods.
These are items that are used
for cooking and baking which
then must be replenished.
They include both chilled and
un-chilled foodstuffs.
The “non consumables” zones is used to store
non-foodstuffs. It is mainly used for kitchen
utensils, cutlery, dishes and glasses. For
ergonomic reasons, it may even make sense
to store often-used dishes in the pull-outs of the
lower cabinets instead of the top cabinet.
The dishwasher and the sink with the
sink bottom cabinet are located in the
centre of the “wet zone”. This cabinet
is the proper location for waste
storage/separation as well as
household cleaners and cleaning
utensils.
This zone stores those kitchen utensils
required for food preparation. It also
contains some open foodstuffs as well as
those that are often used when preparing food.
This is certainly the heart of every
kitchen. It contains items such as
the hob, oven, microwave and extractor.
The items required for cooking and
baking are stored here – items such
as pots, pans and cooking utensils.
ERGONOMICS
Ergonomic kitchens reduce effort and increase comfort within a kitchen environment and therefore plays an important role in kitchen planning.
Start by placing items that are frequently used at a height that is easiest to access. It may require reprogramming the way you think about your kitchen e.g. store pots and pans (heavier items) in top drawer as opposed to the tradition bottom pot drawer.
In general, frequently used items should be stored in easy-to-reach pull outs near appropriate work areas as well as on the first level in the wall units.
Items used less often can be stored above and below this area. Rarely-used items end up on the top level of wall units and at the bottom level of base units. This saves time during daily kitchen work.
ACCESS
The correct hardware and fittings will:
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provide easy access to contents especially in base units and drawers
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ensure that everything is visible at a glance, so you don’t have to go searching to the back of the cupboard
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organise the interior of your drawers so you don’t waste time looking for things
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ensure easy motion when opening and closing doors/drawers even if the drawers are heavy or wide.
The following check list will provide a good starting point when meeting with your kitchen designer.
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Give detailed consideration to your current and future kitchen requirements
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Determine your own personal storage space requirements.
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Plan in kitchen zones
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Plan your storage items in ergonomically correct levels.
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Select cabinets that are specially designed for specific storage items
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Select pull outs with high backs and closed side walls
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Avoid shelves in base cabinets
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Select full extensions
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Adjust work heights to your height
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Make sure that enough work space is planned in your kitchen
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Make sure that storage items are well organized using inner dividers
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Make sure that fittings in your kitchen utilize the latest technology
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Many people don’t realise they have too little storage until after they have their new kitchen
installed. Work out how much storage space you need from the very start when you are in the
planning stage of your kitchen. Ensure you have plenty of storage space so everything is where
it should be. It’s surprising what storage is made available with good kitchen planning and design.
Amongst other things items to consider are crockery, utensils, pots and pans, as well as spices,
tinned, packaged and refrigerated foodstuffs, among others. Storage space requirements
depends upon cooking, shopping habits, size of the household and lifestyle.
Drawers (as opposed to cupboards) dramatically increase storage capacity. Following on from
, the inclusion of storage solutions such as plate racks, spice racks, and dividers can further your
storage capacity.
utopian design
