PROJECTDETAILS
Location
Balfour Manor, Sidmouth, England Project Planner
Tandem Studio 
high quality + carefully detailed
PROJECT
Jonathan and his team completed all the joinery (including the design and creation of a new staircase) for the major renovation of our property in Devon (Balfour Manor). He is the rare combination of both creative genius and impeccable craftsman, with a superb eye for detail and a perfectionist in all aspects of manufacture and installation. As important, he was a pleasure to work with, a sensitive listener to understand our needs, thoughtful and caring to deliver the perfect result. We would happily use him exclusively (and indeed he built a beautiful kitchen for us in another house).
As part of the complete modernisation of the apartment by Gillespie Yunnie Architects tandem Studio designed and built a modern hand made kitchen. All elements were bespoke to the project including cabinet widths and drawer sizes. This meant that everything could be carefully considered with maximum use made of the available space.
The cabinets and drawers are made from durable white melamine faced birch plywood with bespoke drawer inserts.
By using the oak tri-ply material for the tall cabinets we were able to articulate the different elements of the kitchen and give it more of a tactile furniture feel. We also wanted to it to relate to the materials used in the other parts of the apartment such as the stairs that are visible from the kitchen. The high level cabinets have push to open doors to minimise the number of handles needed, keeping the front face as minimal as possible.
Bespoke stainless steel plinth covers at the base of the cabinets were made for the kitchen with minimal joints. This helped maintain the overall simplicity and durability of the design.
There are no standard cabinets or drawers to our kitchens so the layout and arrangement can exactly suit the space and your needs. All parts are carefully detailed so the overall design looks like it is made for the space with everything fitting together seamlessly.
The white fronts are from a tough moisture resistant MDF with a hard wearing and durable spray finish. The oak cabinets are hand finished in a durable hard wax oil - for more detail on this material see the process and materials section of the web site
Photography: Richard Downer
