A kitchen is rarely just a kitchen today, with homeowners expecting more and more from their cooking quarters. Selina Zwolsman explains the implications for builders and designers.

Homes at both ends of the size spectrum are presenting different design challenges when it comes to multi-purpose kitchens. In this feature, we’ll look at both tiny homes and generous abodes, and put forward some points to consider when designing these complex spaces.

TINY HOMES AND EURO LAUNDRIES
With the tiny home movement gaining traction in Australia, designers are being challenged to make the most of small spaces.

An obvious place to start is with the functionality of the kitchen, and the potential for this home hub to be much more than a food preparation zone.

Our European cousins have been combining their kitchen and laundry spaces for decades, and the concept of a ‘Euro laundry’ is growing in popularity in the US, too. In Australia, however, installing a washing machine in a new kitchen renovation can prove a little more complicated.

The National Construction Code (Volume Two) sets out specific requirements with respect to laundry facilities in Class 1 Buildings.

The Code indicates that ‘a Class 1 building must be provided with clothes washing facilities, comprising at least one washtub and space in the same room for a washing machine’.

Your client may see their generously-sized sink as a suitable washtub, but the NCC overrules this presumption, clearly stating that ‘a kitchen sink or washbasin must not be counted as a laundry washtub. A laundry washtub is considered to provide the necessary means to dispose of waste water as required by P2.4.3(c)’.

To meet the requirements of the Code, you’ll need to ensure you’ve allocated a task-specific tub in your combined kitchen space.

Additionally, you’ll need to consider if and how your incorporated laundry will affect waterproofing requirements. By locating a washing machine and tub in the kitchen, you’ve (by the Code definition) created a laundry space, which will need to meet the requirements set out for wet areas in the NCC and Australian Standard AS 3740.
Of course, all States and Territories and their associated private certifiers will interpret and legislate the requirements differently, and it’s critical that you contact your local authority to confirm their interpretation of the guidelines set out within the Code.

STACKED TOWERS
When space is at a premium in a small home design, stacking laundry appliances seems a no-brainer. The appliance manufacturers, however, are not so encouraging when it comes to lifting front-loading washing machines off the floor.

The often-overlooked installation manuals are mostly very clear when it comes to appliance elevation: Fisher & Paykel ‘Installation Instructions User Guide’ for their WH series range of Front Loading Clothes Washers states ‘this machine must not be installed and operated on a plinth’. Miele’s installation instructions are clear, too: ‘Plinth installations should only proceed on concrete or cemented bricked plinths. The unit/s must be secured against slippage via retaining clips. Freestanding Besser blocks or bricks are not an acceptable form of plinth, and Miele will not install upon them. Further installations of washer/dryer stacked on a plinth are prohibited.’

A fully loaded washing machine can be a hefty weight, and a full spin cycle will typically create a significant amount of vibration and movement. The structural integrity of the surface a machine is mounted on can make a big difference between a safe performance and an epic fail. If the latter occurs and your client’s machine comes off second best, you can bet your bottom dollar the manufacturer won’t come to the party.

To stay on the safe side of sensible design, make sure you’ve seen and referenced the specific installation manuals for your clients’ selected appliances before you start your space planning.

ABUNDANT ABODES AND KITCHEN QUARTERS
Most of the large kitchen entries that make their way into the KBDi Designer Awards program have well-equipped sculleries or spacious butlers’ pantries adjoining the main kitchen areas. Interestingly, despite the roles of the two types of add-ons being somewhat different, the identification of these zones is often interchanged.
Here we’ll look at the difference between the two, along with a summary of things to consider when designing these kitchen additions.

THE BUTLER’S PANTRY
Historically speaking (from the Victorian era), the ‘butler’s pantry’ was a dedicated space for the cleaning, counting and polishing of the family silver, sets of china, serving dishes and so on. The butler would keep this pantry locked in order to prevent the theft of the family heirlooms, and would sometimes even sleep in the space for added security.

While we’d all like our own Mr Carson at home, few of us have the privilege of having a live-in butler. What many can aim for, however, is a well-fitted out butler’s pantry for the storage of dry goods, crockery, our ever-growing list of appliances, Tupperware and mason jars.

A butler’s pantry should:

• be well-ventilated and sufficiently illuminated (natural lighting is ideal, but often not so attainable)
• have accessible cupboards and drawers, and well-placed shelving that is easy to dust.

THE SCULLERY
In Victorian times, the scullery maid was at the opposite end of the servant hierarchy to the butler. Scullery maids were very young girls employed to assist the cook. They were the first to wake in the morning and the last to go to bed. They rarely saw the outside of the scullery, which was the small kitchen or room at the rear of a house used for washing dishes and other dirty household work.

With ultra-efficient dishwashers, we rarely need our own scullery maids today. When the plates are piling up, though, many are looking for out-of-sight areas to stack their dirty dishes, and a scullery ticks the box. Today’s sculleries can range from simple sink and pantry combinations to totally fitted-out ‘miniature kitchens’ tucked behind a shiny and showy  front end.

A well-designed scullery will:

• cater for the full working capacity of the space, with its own ‘work triangle’ if necessary
• be well lit and sufficiently airy, with mechanical air extraction where required
• have practical finishes designed to accommodate moisture and potential splashes

To see more great examples of the kinds of kitchens set out above, or to learn about our technical bulletins which further outline the code requirements discussed in this feature, visit www.kbdi.org.au.