Winner: Christopher Pagliaro Architects
At this new home, Christopher Pagliaro worked with Ryan Fletcher of Fletcher Development and Lisa Oakes of Oaklee Interiors to deliver a space where views are as appetizing as the meals being prepared at the spacious island cooking station. The homeowner had requested a minimalist design with maximum function. Most of the room’s amenities are discreetly—and elegantly—concealed behind well-detailed custom cabinetry. The Caesarstone-topped island is positioned so that the chef at work can focus on guests seated in the adjoining family room or at one of the nearby bar stools. Meanwhile, a large Renlita automated overhead door in front of the sink affords views of the property’s swimming pool and lush outdoor living spaces. When the overhead door is raised and pivoted in, guests can be served meals or drinks directly at a high-top counter, making for a perfect experience of being both indoors and outdoors simultaneously.
Finalist: Vicente-Burin Architects
This new kitchen was but one ingredient of a wholesale redo of a collection of former caretakers’ buildings that were scattered on a large estate. Some of the buildings were transformed into entertaining spaces, a garage and, in this case, a cozy guest cottage. The kitchen that had existed in the cottage was a small, narrow galley space. The architects opened up the whole room in such a way that each area within it now has its own identity—for cooking, prep and eating.
With interior design by Sasha Bikoff that’s evocative of a rustic English Cotswolds cottage, walls feature a coarse plaster finish, along with handmade Fez tiles from Exquisite Surfaces, while a large pendant hangs above a rustic oak prep island. Cabinets are painted in a glossy red hue—Benjamin Moore’s Cherry Burst.
Finalist: Burr Salvatore Architects
A practical kitchen can also be a chic space. While this mid-country Greenwich kitchen is a well-used room by a young active family with two children and a dog, elegance and practicality are combined in a very successful recipe. A backsplash made of Calacatta Vagli marble appears almost like an alluring abstract artwork, with the material continuing behind a pair of illuminated glass vitrines.
Even the cabinet hardware—olive brass knuckle hinges—and Waterworks faucet assume a jewelry-like effect, while the brass edge pulls on the reeded drawer fronts are routed in to allow a flush edge across the top of the drawers. Lighting by Pelle complements pretty and practical Piatra Grey Caesarstone countertops. The necessities of every kitchen, such mundane conveniences as a toaster and mixer, are all discreetly tucked away behind easily accessed pocket doors.
