With over 12 years’ professional experience producing kitchens in and around Bath, Ben and Emi Argent of Ben Argent Kitchens talk to us about designing this particularly special project for their own home.
The very first kitchen we ever designed and made was in fact for our first home, 13 years ago. Unknowingly at the time, this then became the starting point for our business as we evolved from our respective backgrounds in bespoke furniture and architecture. We designed something a little different from the norm and found our passion. This gained the interest of friends and local architects who then asked us to design other kitchens.
So now, after having designed hundreds of kitchens, it feels like we’ve come full circle to work on our own kitchen again, this time in our new home. The challenge of designing and project managing our own kitchen followed the approach we would take with any client, and also involved some internal alterations to create our open-plan kitchen/dining space with a large new glazed full-height opening to the garden.
Fortunately, we tend to both be on the same page when it comes to design decisions and we were confident about creating the right layout for the space from the early stages. When it came to the finishes, however, we were definitely our own most challenging clients! We wanted to use this opportunity as a bit of a prototype – to test new ideas and materials to
help us evolve our kitchen offerings. So we decided to follow quite an experimental process, testing various different options for finishes before we settled on the final scheme.
As we were having renovation work done, we found 3D modelling our space and producing photorealistic visuals of our design scheme invaluable – and this is something we highly recommend for any of our clients. Looking back at the original visuals now, it’s striking how accurate they are to the finished product.
Because we opted for a pale oak chevron flooring and there was plenty of natural light, we were able to opt for dark and dramatic colours for the kitchen itself. We find people are often afraid to go too dark, however scientifically about 70% of your perception of light comes from horizontal surfaces, meaning the flooring and worktops. So in our kitchen, we chose a very light floor and worktops, so the resulting feel in the room is bright and airy, even though we have very dark kitchen fronts.
We always say the optimal kitchen layout, both aesthetically and practically, is to achieve straight runs where possible, so we instinctively broke the kitchen down into three elements – low level, tall units and island.
The large bank of tall units is a key feature of the space and is hugely practical for storage. We managed to reduce the visual weight of this run by introducing a split material palette of black resin decor, combined with hand-selected smoked oak to give added richness. Additionally, the part-open pantry unit adds a feeling of depth using polished ‘Sahara Noir’ backlit marble.
The freestanding island packs a big punch with beautiful antique liquid brass drawer fronts. These real brass fronts can be distressed and burnished as desired and this creates a really characterful, natural patina. We also framed the island in the smoked oak to echo the materials used in the tall units. Our intention was for the island to embrace a subtle retro aesthetic, and to stand out from the accompanying cabinetry as a central focal point within the room. Having the island raised on legs creates an elegant, lightweight appearance, allowing you to see the floor below and making the room feel more spacious and dynamic.
Navigating the design and installation of this kitchen in and around our other projects was an interesting challenge, as it coincided with one of our busiest times. Naturally, our other projects took precedence over our own, but we managed to get everything done, and completed just in time to host Christmas lunch!
We’re really thrilled with the outcome – the space is so serene and peaceful to spend time in. This one room alone has totally transformed our house and is a real joy to use. We hope this is how all our clients feel when they have their new kitchen spaces!
The showroom for Ben Argent Kitchens is available to visit near Bath: Ben Argent Kitchens, Dunsdon Barn, Dunsdon Lane, West Littleton SN14 8JA; benargentkitchens.co.uk