The kitchen island as the star attraction
Getting back to basics as the principle of a successful design. From a combination of top-quality materials and customised design solutions, a kitchen was born that is harmonious throughout, its focal point being a very special island solution with a BORA Classic cooktop extractor system and three cooktops.
Maximum functionality combined with a scaled-back design — the requirements for a Swiss couple’s new kitchen. In line with the puristic style, the materials were to be top-quality and long-lasting. “Our customers came to us wanting something really beautiful and exclusive for their new, larger kitchen,” Christof Bürgisser sums up their joint vision. The Head of the Interior Design Department at Orea, a company based in Zurich which specialises in the planning and manufacturing of luxury kitchens and high-quality interior design as a consistent living concept, came up with a design that was well received: the new kitchen is fitted out with fronts made of shiny golden aluminium, complemented by work surfaces made of top-quality wenge wood and chrome steel, and a kitchen island with a triple BORA cooktop combination. The set consists of one wok and two surface induction cooktops, with BORA Classic cooktop extractors between them.
Central kitchen island
The new kitchen island is undoubtedly the highlight of the kitchen. This came about because the customers fell in love with a showpiece in the Zurich showroom when they were planning their kitchen: a customisable kitchen island in the style of a workbench with a BORA cooktop and extractor is what they took a shine to. In this case it was a kind of kitchen counter in which the different areas from the cooktop to the sink could be arranged in a number of ways. The fixtures sit in a metal frame which is simple yet elegant.
Kitchen design: Orea, www.orea-kuechen.ch
BORA Classic, triple combination of two surface induction cooktops and a wok cooktop, as well as two cooktop extractors
Photos: André Herger
“The customers liked that a lot, but it was far too small for them,” the kitchen planner remembers. The solution: a similar chrome steel frame to the one in the show kitchen was laid in the form of an inlay frame in a long, thick solid wenge wood worktop which has pride of place on top of the kitchen island. In turn, the BORA cooktop system takes its place inside the chrome steel surface with two Classic cooktop extractors, two surface induction cooktops and a wok cooktop. The combination of the three cooktops was chosen by the customers from a range of different models. The wok cooktop was especially important to them. Its hollow ensures that the outside of the wok is heated evenly, thus guaranteeing firm, crisp stir-fry dishes. Thanks to the seamless glass ceramic surface, the whole cooktop is extremely easy to clean. The customers-cum-cooking enthusiasts had found their ideal “workbench”.
For the kitchen designer there were no two ways about it: to achieve a clear-cut design like this one, a high-quality, functional cooktop extractor, such as those supplied by BORA, was the perfect solution. A conventional extractor hood would have ruined the overall effect and restricted his design freedom as far as the position of the cooking area was concerned. Because the island in the showroom already had a BORA Classic cooktop extractor system, it was suggested that the same kind also be installed in the new kitchen. However, for the planning professional, it would also have been totally feasible to have used another model such as BORA Professional, Pure or Basic to create a kitchen a cut above the rest.
