Open-Plan Kitchen

The work

A long island in solid character oak — knots, figure and all — set against a perimeter of matt black flat fronts with black stone worktops and a matching upstand. Handleless throughout, worked on continuous recessed rails rather than J-pulls, and standing on recessed dark plinths so both runs appear to float.

The room is open to the living space and to a wall of black-framed sliding glazing, so the kitchen is on show from three sides. That is the reason for the discipline: there is no back to it.

Showing the joint

The drawer fronts are through-jointed at the corners and the joint is left visible. It is a decision, not a shortcut — a mitred or lipped front would hide it, and hiding it is what most makers do.

It only works if the timber is dry, the machining is exact and the finish is an oil rather than a lacquer, because the joint has to be allowed to move a little without opening. One end of the island is finished in a fluted panel, cut from the same boards, which gives the mass of it somewhere to break.

Character grade, deliberately

Character oak is cheaper than prime and much harder to use. Every board has to be selected and laid out so the knots fall where they help and not where a drawer front needs to be flat and stable. The saving in timber is spent again in the machine shop, and then some.

The compensation is that no two commissions in it can ever look the same.