Flexibility and open spaces are themes in contemporary house design. Multifunctional spaces and creative storage solutions are more than welcome when seeking easily adaptable environments to meet owners' constantly changing needs. To give you some fresh inspiration, we have selected ten projects that feature countertops that integrate different programs and serve more than one function in the home.
Integration With Architecture
Casa 4x30, realized in partnership with CR2 Arquitetura + FGMF, presents an unusual continuity between the living room and the dining table, integrated into the island with a built-in oven. Lowered, the kitchen offers itself to the visitor through an unexpected perspective. Integrated with the living room by the "floor-table", by the countertop that extends from one environment to another, by the materials and details, the kitchen places itself as part of the same space, but the lowering of the level highlights the difference between the programs.
In a different solution that also provides complete integration, Sabiá Arquitetos + Pianca Arquitetura concentrated the entire kitchen program on a single 4-meter-long countertop in Apartamento Praça da República.
Transition Between Environments
In Apartamento Arouche, the center of the house is a large countertop where one works, studies, cooks and eats. The guará arquitetura + Vão offices designed it with a length of 6 meters, forming a large concrete table responsible for organizing the room. These qualities are also present in the table with retractable flaps on a timber panel, which articulates between the kitchen and the living room accommodating up to 8 people in Apartamento Algés. The piece was designed by dbA. arquitectura to establish itself as a protagonist in open space.
By working at different heights on the same furniture, we can configure the transition between environments and uses, as we can see in the 82SAN Restoration and Extension of a House Between Dividing Walls. In a simple but functional solution, COM/O opened the counter and left its two sides empty. This facilitated access to storage spaces and amplified visual integration in Vila Venus Sol.
Versatility in the Same Furniture
In Apartamento Curva, the countertop between the kitchen and the living room has an arm that advances toward the living room window. It runs the entire length of the space until it reaches the kitchen. Upon entering this space, it forms a curve, sometimes concave, sometimes convex. The design by Isabela Bandeira and Gabriela Lauria softens the circulation between the environments, as well as integrates and ties the two spaces together. The blue joinery also creates a multifunctional piece of furniture that has a TV, a niche for chairs, and dish cabinets facing the kitchen.
It is also possible to innovate in American kitchens. Estúdio Minke adopted more monochromatic coatings to dialogue with the exposed concrete structure and integrate the space of the cooktop, meal, and an island that can serve different uses in Apartamento Monolito. The COTA 760 also organized a large central island in Apartamento Sumaúma where the support countertop for the kitchen and dining table is placed at a slightly lower level.
This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: The Contemporary Home, proudly presented by BUILDNER.
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