Fridge Integration

Any fridge can be integrated if the right allowances are considered. Buying a purpose made fridge with integration capabilities is the best outcome for seamlessly integrating the unit into your kitchen. These purpose built products have been designed to integrate a panel onto the fascia disguising the fridge. Secondary kits can be purchased to fix to any fridge and the rear of the integration panel achieving the same outcome, although this is not the ideal process it works surprising well. The most important things to consider is provided sufficient airflow around and behind the fridge, generally 50mm all around is a good starting point but consult your manual for exact offsets. If you have overhead cupboards above the fridge make sure they are not full depth, stop them at-least 200mm from the rear of the cabinet to allow venting into the ceiling space.

cutlery trays

Cutlery trays are often overlooked when designing and finishing a kitchen. It is extremely important to get this right & it can mean the difference to a smooth function or disrupted flow when the user cannot find what they are looking for immediately.
There are a number of pre-fabricated options out there from Hafele and similar suppliers but generally they do not fit perfectly to your draw. To get that perfect fit and function a custom tray is the only option. Non slip matts applied to the base of the draw provide protection for the more pricey cutlery and helps in stopping your items from slamming into the side when you shut the draw. As a general rule these draws should not be made larger than 750 max, as they tend to get too heavy for the runners and cause rubbing and eventually failure. To get that custom fit the and function the high use objects are usually placed at the front and a hierarchy is applied with the larger less used items at the rear. The image to the left shows a good layout although there is no protective Matt and the expensive veneer will scratch over time causing quite an ugly site when you open the draw.

pivot doors

Seamless pivot doors are quite impressive and I am currently working on one that will be one of its kind.
The hardware was from dorma as follows:
DORTS8560G-DORMA FLOOR PIVOT $33.17
DOBTS8066- H/DUTY ADJUSTABLE TOP CENTRE $73.48
DOBTS8064SSSS- SS TOP CENTER COVER $9.17
DOBTS7421- DORMA FLOOR STRAP TIMBER $34.37
DO355.5SSS- COVER PLATE SS $22.2

Design Process

The process and the foresight of the process is the absolute most critical aspect of design. Sure design is a very broad term and it can apply to many things in many ways, but what I want to focus on is production of real objects & reproducing similar items is where this foresight is quite easily obtainable but it is in the unknown that if foresight is achieved success will follow.
This may not make sense but I would like to take this opportunity to explain myself. Involvement in a tried and tested manufacturing process, assumptions can be made about the outcome or the result of certain actions. For example cabinet making is an established industry with proven techniques and processes that we can rely on in order to achieve an outcome that is guaranteed. We know how certain timbers will react and we know if we cut a sheet of melamine up and screw it together in certain ways we will create a box that is structural and will last for years.
I see this as pure production and provided the process is adhered to the result is guaranteed due to our prior knowledge and ability to draw on past experience. Although if one element of the process is skipped or not followed through to its full extent the outcome will fail and the result is guaranteed to be unsatisfactory. So how does this relate to foresight in design? Well good design can fall into many categories but a good designer has an uncanny knack for predicting the outcome of certain actions and predicting the way certain materials will react under certain circumstances.
Innovative and new design is then an interesting methodology and it cannot exist without the close relationship to the prototyping phase. Risk is always an element that cannot be avoided but it most definitely can be minimalised with careful planning and prototyping of each and every process involved in achieving the desired outcome.

stone benchtops

Steel reinforcement requirements necessary for counter-levered stone bench-tops
- Generally a 300mm overhang is not necessary for any steel reinforcement, provided it has sufficient substrate.
Any overhang greater than 300 will require reinforcement up to 600mm overhang the general rule is to have a ratio of 50 - 50 with 50% of the steel embedded into the substrate while the other 50% is supporting the counter-levered stone. If the counter-lever is to be greater than 600mm then a 1/3 - 2/3 ratio is required with the 2/3'rds embedded into the substrate.

A 6mm plate works well and allows a nice thin material thickness and bench edge detail. Although for some overhangs it is necessary to be using some RHS (rolled hollow section) to support the stone. The critical factor here is to never allow the stone to have direct contact with the steel as this will cause the stone to crack.

laminating plywood or other sheet material

The normal cabinet makers way of laying up laminate
...with Plywood on bench spray with Wilson Art 950 spray contact adhesive
Laminate on horizontal bench just behind it and spray with adhesive
...let set up for about 2-5 mins depending humidity
...lay sticks on 12" centers on plywood
"fold the laminate" down onto the sticks.
...pull sticks out from center working out and rolling with J-roller to add pressure.
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flip over and do it again.

Now your ready to cut cabinet parts with both faces already laminated.

zero protrusion hinges

Taking a slight turn in my blog direction, I endeavor to explore the technical detailing of cabinetry for a while or atleast until I get bored of it.
The first thing I have decided to have a look at is the overlay hinges from salice and blum and currently the blum does a nice negative protrusion hinge actually -2.3mm.
But be aware that even when using the Blum Zero Protrusion Hinges, if the end user does not open the doors well beyond 90 degrees (they rarely do), the door backs get ruined by the pull outs. After doing them both ways, I think it is better to use your regular hinges and shim the pull outs to clear the doors.

kendo

The 10 years old Spanish manufacturer Kendo Mobiliario recently presented this new family of occasional tables designed by the Barcelona based designer Antoni Arola. ‘Tray’ is composed of a simple angular metal structure and a series of mobile trays that can be given various combined finishes.