We were commissioned to make a bespoke kitchen and a separate dining space with banquette seating for our clients, who were in the process of having a new private home built on the outskirts of Winchester. Following these initial projects, we were then briefed to create all the fitted furniture for the pantry, laundry room, boot room, banquette seating for the bedroom, a walk-in wardrobe and a bathroom vanity.
We worked closely with our clients who had a distinct vision of the aesthetic they were seeking. They had previously hired another kitchen company to design the footprint of the scheme, but they then chose Searle & Taylor to bring the project to fruition, where we made numerous design improvements, adding our own signature elements. We interpreted all our clients’ requirements to make the bespoke kitchen furniture together with the banquette in the dining area. This provides perfect flow and functionality, and is perfectly in-keeping with the rest of the space.
The entire ground floor is neutrally decorated in Stone 1 by Paint & Paper Library on the walls and ceiling. It has large black steel Crittall windows throughout, with full-height Crittall doors leading to the garden. Matching internal glazed panel doors lead to a separate drawing room, while the rest of the ground floor is dedicated to the open plan kitchen and entertaining area. The hand-laid patterned Ash flooring was chosen during the design process so the dark stain of the vertical grain Oak veneered fronts, and plinth on the island was chosen to complement it. All Antique Brass knobs and handles are by Armac Martin and all Antique Brass wall brackets are by Corston Architectural. These complement the pendant and wall lights by Apparatus Studio and wall lights above the sink run by Blue Print Lighting NYC.
There are two main runs of cabinetry which are made using dark stained oak carcases and solid oak shelves. The 22mm thick door and drawer fronts feature 18mm broken ogee bead mouldings and all are handpainted in Stone 2 by Paint & Paper Library. The tall run behind the island runs floor-to-ceiling with a moulded cornice at the top matching the cornicing in the rest of the room. Five storage top boxes run along the length of the cabinetry and are situated above (from left) a tall integrated cabinet for glasses, next to an integrated tall freezer by Gaggenau. At the centre is housing for a bank of Gaggenau Vario 400 cooking appliances consisting of a single oven with a combination microwave above and a 29cm culinary drawer beneath. A reduced height top box and a shallow drawer for racks and trays are above and below. To the right is a tall integrated fridge next to an integrated three-zone wine conditioning cabinet, all by Gaggenau.
On the task side, directly in front of the bank of ovens, is a personalised Gaggenau cook centre mounted within the 3.6m x 1.3m island’s 30mm thick Bianco Superiore Honed Quartzite worktop. This comprises a domino gas hob, domino induction hob and domino teppanyaki, separated by two downdraft extractors in-between and all feature rotary controls integrated within cabinetry beneath. The entire hob set is rebated into the worktop providing a completely flush finish. Also on the task side are handleless deep drawers for pots and pans beneath handleless shallow drawers for cutlery and utensils. At one end of the island is a square ceramic undermount sink by Shaws and Quooker Fusion Pro3 Boiling Water Tap with a special finish, which is used for food preparation. The facing side of the island features further handleless cabinets, all with pull-out shelves on soft close runners, together with further shallow storage drawers above them.
The long sink run extends beneath a large Crittall window. Undercounter from left is an integrated pull-out fridge by Liebherr next to two pull-out storage drawers and a cabinet for pull-out bins. At the centre is a Shaws Entwistle single bowl sink with an aged brass Perrin & Rowe Ionian Tap. Beneath the farmhouse style sink is a 30mm quartzite sill to accommodate for spils and splashes protecting the painted woodwork of the sink cabinet, a signature addition by Searle & Taylor. To the right of the sink is a 60cm integrated dishwasher by Miele adjacent to further deep and shallow storage drawers. At the end of the run is a specially designed cabinet for two dark oak pull-out trays and two solid dark oak pull-out chopping boards, another signature design by Searle & Taylor. Matching the quartzite worktop is a 30mm splashback and upstand in the same material. In addition, there are four 30mm thick quartzite shelves with with ogee edged moulding, that sit upon the Corston Architectural brackets. Â
To the right of the kitchen area is the dining area within a triple window recess. Built within the bay is a large bespoke banquette seating area made by Searle & Taylor, with piano-hinged lids to provide hidden cushion storage behind the seats. LED lighting runs at the base of the cabinetry to make a feature of the seating at night. On either side of the banquette are alcove cabinets in the same dark oak stained veneer as the kitchen island and kitchen accents. An oval dark oak Miniforms Monoplauto dining table from Go Modern sits at the centre with two further Fritz Harken Series 7 dining chairs from The Conran Shop.
Searle & Taylor has been designing and creating beautiful traditional bespoke and contemporary kitchens for clients.
