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May 18, 2020

Lights, Camera, Cuisine – Neolith To The Rescue

Lights, Camera, Cuisine! Neolith has been specified for worktops in UK celebrity chef Rich Harris’s home kitchen.

 

 

Rich Harris is a well-known face on the UK food scene. A BBC Food Insider, he contributes recipes to and films cookery demonstrations for leading food retailer Waitrose. He has also published a number of best-selling cookery books including: Fire & Smoke and Root & Leaf.

Looking to renovate his home kitchen, he approached leading luxury kitchen designer and contractor Hinged UK, having been impressed by one of its previous projects. The chef’s brief was specific: he required a space which would double as a workspace for his shows and demonstrations as well as a family-friendly area for eating, entertaining and relaxing. Fundamentally, design couldn’t be prioritised over practicality.

From an aesthetic perspective, Rich wanted to find a balance between individualism and neutrality. The room needed to possess an original character but equally not look too busy in order to provide a suitable backdrop for filming.

The layout of the room also had to take Rich’s filming into account, so Hinged had to design the kitchen specifically to allow a whole camera crew the ability to film and enough space for the chef to work. As such, the team designed a kitchen island to architecturally anchor the room, providing a visual focal point but also a practical prop around which to record.

As important as the overall look, he also required heavy duty, hard wearing material to be used throughout the space, particularly the work surfaces which would be in constant use, day-in-day-out.

Having worked with Neolith®’s surfaces on a number of previous projects, Hinged was keen to use it again for Rich’s kitchen, feeling it perfectly matched the requirements of the client brief.

As Dean Martin, Director of Hinged explains, “Neolith’s a product I’ve been using for seven or eight years now. I really cannot speak highly enough about its qualities, especially when used for a project like Rich’s. One of the major flaws in most worktops is their poor resistance to temperature. There are not many options on the residential market which can withstand extreme heat. Neolith’s high degree of tolerance sets it apart, making it perfect for a professional chef in a home setting.”

The worktops and island were specified in Neolith Estatuario Silk 12mm thick. The fabricator, Duke Stone, had to work carefully to finesse the high levels of detailing to create a seamless join between the island’s top and sides to create a waterfall effect. They also had to accurately cut the slabs in order to integrate Kitchenaid appliances, including a state-of-the-art gas range and an undermount sink, as well as carving drainage grooves into the Sintered Stone’s surface.

Martin continues, “Estatuario is a wildly popular pattern in the UK and looks particularly fabulous in the matte Silk finish. It’s got a striking, natural look and it perfectly sets off all the other furniture in the room.”

To provide an element of visual juxtaposition, Hinged specified vivid blue cabinetry, providing an element of contrast to the tonally spare Estatuario worktops, bright white walls and unvarnished timber floors.

Open plan and flooded with plenty of natural light from a partial glass roof and multiple skylights, Rich’s kitchen is at once welcoming and casual as it is professional and ready for business.

Commenting on his multi-functional kitchen, Rich Harris says, “Simply outstanding. From the outset the whole experience has been faultless. The exceptional work from the team at Hinged, from design through to delivery, has been second to none. We now have a sleek, beautifully designed kitchen without sacrificing functionality and everyday practicality. You guys rock.”

 

 

To find out more about Neolith’s range of colours, patterns, finishes and thicknesses click here.


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