Kitchen unity from Gaggenau

Kitchen design is on the move. The place where we cook is now the hard-working hub of the home, and this impacts not only the colour of our cabinetry, but also the finish and finesse of our fixtures and fittings. It’s given rise to three new keystones in the design of kitchens today. Paramount is the aesthetic integration of kitchens and living areas, whether the space is open plan or not, to deepen the kitchen’s warmth and social appeal. Secondly, the pandemic has only reinforced an already existing call for professional-standard fittings and appliances, since culinary ambition has sky-rocketed while restaurant visits have been few and far between. And finally, with the environmental crisis at the forefront of all design equations, building to last has become everyone’s priority.

Riding the evolutionary waves are brands that can effortlessly meet these aesthetic and functional demands. Some, like Gaggenau, the luxury brand for professional-grade home appliances, have been intuitively working to tick those boxes over many years and are emerging as clear choices for kitchens in contemporary residential design.

Distinguishing Gaggenau’s appliance offering aesthetically today is precisely a lack of distinction – meaning the appliances, which include ovens, cooktops and ventilation, wine storage, and coffee makers, are perfectly aligned and unified aesthetically across the space. This visual coherence allows the working parts of the kitchen to harmonise elegantly, without disrupting its design scheme. All the more important when elsewhere that scheme might be a fine-tuned patchwork of textures and finishes designed to blend living and cooking zones.

'The best-designed appliances for today’s interiors are those that don’t shout or attract attention, but blend discreetly into a scheme. The best scenario is a minimalist design that works across different functions, so that the eye doesn’t single them out.' says interior designer Amy Heffernan, founder of Studio Heff.

As for the other two keystones, professional functionality has driven Gaggenau’s design team for decades, and with sharp focus on innovation, precision and fierce quality control, it’s in Gaggenau’s DNA to make it last. Combined with timeless, minimal aesthetics, this makes longevity – part of the arsenal of sustainable manufacture – an authentic promise.

‘Exceptional together’ has become the brand’s new campaign call, summing up the features that put Gaggenau’s harmonious family of high-performing appliances at the centre of today’s residential kitchen market. The final bit of the jigsaw is providing the support that architects and interior professionals require to take advantage of those ticked boxes, and this is where the brand’s creative energy has been focused most recently.

Extending the ‘exceptional together’ strapline to include an increasingly collaborative relationship with the architectural community, Gaggenau has launched a microsite directed at professionals, sharing news and views, but also tools to assist in planning, including a 2D/3D data library and an expert design support service. This joins the offer of dedicated relationship managers and a global team of specialists who, behind the scenes, help with specific design, engineering or technology challenges, alongside the rebooted showrooms. Starting with the recently-refreshed Amsterdam space, showrooms worldwide are being reworked not only to inspire, but to showcase materials and surfaces, and offer live presentations, consultations, and culinary demonstrations showcasing products, alongside a room to plan designs.

When your professional-standard fridge, oven, and wine storage are consistent and streamlined in design, it’s all the easier to make your choices; especially when it comes with seamless technical support. And the more they blend into their setting, the bigger the smile on the architect’s face.

© Architonic