SMALL but savvy

City living calls for compact kitchens – from smart design to integrated appliances, writes Hasmita Amtha

- Hasmita Amtha

European cities are known and admired for apartment living. However, having easy access to the city centre comes at a cost, and that’s the luxury of space. Similarly, new apartments in our metros are being designed to be compact, focusing on providing a lock-up-and-go lifestyle for long-term and short-term city dwellers.

Open-plan layouts have made modern apartment design comfortable to live in, but often the kitchen is kept quite simple to meet the resident’s basic food prep needs.

Here we take a look at this growing trend of luxury compact kitchens focusing on trends, key design considerations and smart appliances.

THE FUTURE IS NOW

According to Anthea Adam of Diva Cucine Johannesburg, home to the Italian brand Colombini Casa, there has been a global movement of homeowners opting for smaller and more compact living solutions. The brand’s response to this need is the ATOM, a smart living system that’s also referred to as the ATOM Micro Living Solution.

“With the ATOM, solutions have been designed to make spaces flexible and adaptable to needs. These are spaces that by day are used as kitchen/dining and living rooms and at night are able to transform and become a real resting room/bedroom.

“The ATOM system is intended to provide a series of special articles designed to make the most of the space available, in a bedsit or other living area, by multiplying the perception of this space and creating different settings through simple movements. The elements shown here are intended to provide natural solutions to fulfill home living requirements, respecting its rhythms and specific time frames, without compromising on the size of the space.”

DESIGN DETAILS