The Scandi — handleless character oak kitchen with matt black cabinetry, Square & True
Home  /  Projects  /  Open-Plan Kitchen
Essex · The Scandi

Open-Plan Kitchen

Character oak against matt black, handleless throughout, in an open-plan room with a whole wall of glazing onto the fields.

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.

Our clients’ kitchens are private, and most ask that they are not photographed or published. The images here are visualisations rather than photographs of a client’s house, built from our own workshop drawings and our own photographs of the work on site and finished with AI. None of it is stock imagery and none of it is somebody else’s work. If you would like to see drawings, samples and references for completed work, we will show you in person — visits to the Mickfield workshop are by appointment.

Drawn from The Scandi, handleless solid timber against painted carcasses, for an open-plan room in Essex. The rest of the work is under projects.

Specification

RangeThe Scandi
Setting outDrawn in CAD, then again at full size as a rod pinned above the bench. Machining is taken from the rod, not the screen.
Carcass18mm birch-faced plywood, glued and screwed, 9mm backs housed in rather than pinned on. Adjustable feet throughout.
Face framesSolid timber, mortice and tenon, with scribed filler stiles where the joinery meets the building.
Drawer boxesSolid European oak, 16mm sides, through-dovetailed front and back by hand, waxed.
RunnersFull-extension soft-close, rated to 40kg.
Painted workFour coats, brushed by hand in our own finishing room, with the final coat cut in on site after fitting.
Oiled workHard-wax oil, applied and cut back three times.
FittingBy the people who made it. Nothing is subcontracted and nothing arrives flat-packed.
Full specificationDoor style, timber, finish reference, worktop, ironmongery and appliance schedule for this commission are available to specifiers on request.
An oak island with finger-jointed fronts, The Scandi range by Square & TrueThe sink run in matt black with a stone top, The Scandi range by Square & TrueThe Scandi — handleless solid oak English kitchen, made in Suffolk by Square & TrueA matt black run with a stone worktop alongside character oak, The Scandi range by Square & TrueDetail of a handleless finger-jointed solid oak front, The Scandi range by Square & TrueA turned oak knob on a character oak larder door, The Scandi range by Square & TrueA handleless oak kitchen under low evening light.A slatted oak panel to the end of an island, The Scandi range by Square & TrueA corner of flush handleless cabinetry seen obliquely.A corner of solid timber kitchen furniture seen obliquely.A flush handleless kitchen in a light, open room.A drawer bank in flush handleless cabinetry, opened.
Next

Start a conversation

Tell us about the room, the house and roughly when you would like to be cooking in it. We will tell you honestly whether we are the right people for it.

Make an enquiry