The recipe for making this kitchen in a Park Avenue duplex involved what De-spec refers to as design “surgery.” A wall was removed as a way to connect the kitchen to the former dining room, and an expansive island was added next, not only as a practical piece of furniture but also as a way to extend the space visually. This is a kitchen for a family that cooks together and hangs out together: Both the husband and wife work at home and like to gather with their three children in the room. An L-shaped plan allows for separate prep, cooking, and storage spaces, which meld with a kitchen/living area that includes banquette seating. The resulting design “works well as a busy family kitchen,” says judge Amanda Nisbet.
One of the history lessons architect Lorraine Bonaventura learned while touring this circa-1850 Anglo-Italianate rowhouse in Brooklyn Heights was that her clients were only the third family to own it. Bonaventura found her inspiration in what had always been there: “The old doors to the original pantry inspired the design for the kitchen,” says Bonaventura, who proposed a Dutch door to the garden and was happy to learn that the owner had a similar one in his childhood home in London. “Every new element I planned was viewed through the prism of the original house. My goal was to retain that feeling, while rejuvenating the house for the next century.”
The prognosis for this physician’s kitchen is a healthy one. The doctor wanted this space in his gut-renovation apartment on the Upper West Side to echo medical offices of the early 20th century, but with a far warmer touch. Glass doors on the upper cabinets and a long, narrow stainless-steel island achieve the intended effect, while Poul Henningsen’s Artichoke lamps above the island provide a shot of classic modernism. “I love the white walls of tile and how the cabinets go to the ceiling with a clean crown molding,” says judge Katie Ridder. Judge Amanda Nisbet concurs, saying that the streamlined space makes for a “bright and inviting room.”