Kitchen Design Contest | Sub-Zero & Wolf Appliances

After naming 54 regional winners in April 2013, the six global winners of Sub-Zero and Wolf's 2010-12 Kitchen Design Contest were announced on May 21. We congratulate all winners, and thank each of the 1,600-plus designers that entered our contest.

1st Place Contemporary
1st Place Traditional
2nd Place
Any Style
3rd Place
Any Style
Designer’s Choice Award
People’s Choice Award
Student Award

Davy Swanenberg

Culimaat Kitchens | Berlicum, Netherlands

1st Place Contemporary Kitchen Award

Culimaat Unum

"The challenge: a kitchen designed for a demanding host with a busy lifestyle, that had to fit the atmosphere of the home.

I started with an empty space, which featured prominent old wooden beams. That was the stage for what had to be a semi-professional kitchen; the client’s requirements with respect to the appliances were very clear. They had to be as professional as possible. This is why the Wolf range was selected, for its iconic red controls and the heavy cast iron grates. The kitchen measurements are based on the dimensions of the range, hence the shape of the worktop’s edge. The warming drawer dictated the size of the drawers in the island, and led to our choice for using matte marble. Matte marble is easily cut in different thicknesses and perfect to create a uniform and robust look between the warming drawer and furniture fronts. The Sub-Zero refrigerators finish the semi-professional atmosphere, thanks to their stainless steel counterpoint to the rough materials. I searched for contrasting materials on purpose, making sure they share the same colour palette. The result is this kitchen, a sleek industrial look with plenty of light and spaciousness."

Karen Williams

St. Charles of New York, Inc. | New York, USA

1st Place Traditional Kitchen Award

Shasha Residence

"The project was to design a kitchen for a busy female executive working full time with an active family of five. The Client was voted the 40 under 40 award by Crains New York Business Magazine and is very busy running a thriving business. The design challenge was to plan a kosher kitchen for several people to work in and most importantly create a way to engage the three teenage children to participate. The kitchen was to be functional and visually stimulating.

There is a custom stainless steel clean up area with two separate meat and dairy sinks for clean-up and preparation. The unique cooking hearth incorporates a 48" range flanked by two pullout spice/oil pantries that are concealed in the stone enclosure of the hearth. Adding harmony and sophistication to the marble surround.

The island incorporates a pareve sink for cleaning of vegetables a 36" under counter roasting oven, a lowered marble baking area for the 13 year old daughter who loves making brownies and seating for the three children. However, the most impressive feature of this island is the Agate Quartz under-lit stone top that looks like something out of the Museum of Natural History. The children love looking for fossils while mom is cooking. Mission accomplished!"

Friedemann Weinhardt

Design First Interiors | Ottawa, Canada

2nd Place Any Style Kitchen Award

Fearless Harmony in Three Parts

"This home was designed for clients in their new pied-a-terre near their respective families. A love for cooking and entertaining guided all of the design decisions. Modern simplicity was the goal. The kitchen sits on a very large open space that includes living and dining rooms and a spectacular central staircase. Each section of this open design necessarily needed to harmonize with each other and the whole.

Designed along two axis', the kitchen has symmetry and harmony. The primary axis is the centre of the fridge "niche". Here two Sub-Zero 700 Series units are ideally located for the kitchen layout and are visually completely unobtrusive with their cabinet finishes. The third part of the fridge installation is an oven tower with matching fronts and a pocket door that covers the two. Items that could not be integrated are maintaining the harmony of that trip-tich. The "bridge" around the fridge installation is repeated for the Wolf 48" Dual Fuel Range in a symmetrical installation on the second axis of the kitchen. A polished stainless steel hood completes an elegant installation of this section.

The third main part of the harmony is the niche for the dish pantry. It is aligned in height with the top of the fridges and range hood and features matching polished stainless steel doors. The trip-tich motif is repeated in three additional areas: 3 cabinets for the fridge section, 3 open shelves for display uppers & 3 polished stainless steel framed cabinets. Driftwood finished oak flooring was used throughout the open space. White cabinets are a continuation of the wall colour and contrasted with the rich oak used for the island cabinet. Symmetrical sink and dishwasher installations are used on the 14'-9" island. All of the components of the open plan are strong and harmonize with each other, but it is this kitchen that is centre stage."

Lana Grineva | Alexandra Loginova |
Yana Bespamyatnova

Philosophy of Design | Moscow, Russia

3rd Place Any Style Kitchen Award

Zhu Kitchen

"Presentable and professional kitchen combined with the dining room. There is access to the terrace with a swimming pool and then to the park. The breakfast is served on the island. The round table, created by us, is intended for the family dinners. It is finished with exotic wood and we spent a lot of time looking for the right wood pattern. After all, the attention to details distinguishes a piece of art from typical solutions."

Caroline DeCesare

DeCesare Design Group | Mesa, USA

Designer's Choice Award

Park Place

"Park Place was a great opportunity to design something different and unique in Arizona. The typical interiors of an Arizona home in this area are usually heavy, Tuscan inspired, and darker in color. Our client was looking for a home that is light and airy, but that still fits in the desert landscape. To meet this challenge, our firm came up with a design concept called "Clean and Classic." This concept kept reclaimed elements - the wood beams and hard wood floor - but blended it with classic elements like classic white and black cabinetry, a coffered ceiling in the kitchen, and stainless steel appliances. We included Sub-Zero and Wolf products in our kitchen because these appliances are known for their quality and classic design. They help tell our story and the result was a beautiful, timeless kitchen that won over our clients and has caught statewide attention."

Cristina Menezes

Cristina Menezes Arquitetura Decoração e Urbanismo | Belo Horizonte, Brasil

People's Choice Award

Living Gourmet

"This project has a guideline for the welfare of the family. The rectangular shape allows the interaction of everyone and everything! This space has, in addition to fitted kitchen, one living to receive friends, screen and sound. The architecture majestic by its height, has a crowning in a lateral three arbors which allow the sun light in the environment to permeate. In this corner we have the integration of environment with the external area! The coatings are of high quality materials with the same concept of the environment: casual chic! The countertop, with 3.50 m, had the Wolf glass ceramic range top and the sink, floating in space. It is fixed by a column 70 cm in width. This lightness adds elegance to the space. This was thought to distort the identity of the kitchen. The cabinets with retractable doors, home appliances, most high tech market, such as microwave drawer from Wolf and cellar with refrigerated drawers of Sub-Zero, allowing refrigeration of food that the "chef" will prepare! When the chat happens informally, all equipment is in the cabinets with the doors closed, the elegance of the room is guaranteed! The lighting punctuates the details and values!"

Jennifer Durbin

Art Institute of Houston | Houston, USA

Student Award

Design Takes Flight

"Alex Martin’s life has revolved around aviation, as both his father and grandfather had careers in the Air Force. He grew up with a love for classic aviation of the 1930’s, having role models such as Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart and Howard Hughes. This passion for aviation led him to become a pilot for a major commercial airline based in Houston, Texas, once the home of the aviation great Howard Hughes.

Alex was excited to relocate to Houston. His desire was to find a home that would encompass Houston’s aviation history, but also include the most modern conveniences. Built in 1910, consisting of eight floors, The Beaconsfield was the first apartment high rise in Houston. In its day it was considered the height of luxury with its ultimate downtown location on the edge of the business district between classic Victorian homes. The building featured hardwood floors, mahogany beams and brass fixtures.

Furthermore, the ultimate attraction to Alex was the fact that it was once the home of his idol, Howard Hughes. Upon entering the apartment, the living room wall is composed of a mural from an airplane fuselage. The scrap metal fuselage pieces and exposed rivets set the tone for the entire space. The apartment boasts a mix of metal, wood and concrete which compliments this industrial, aviation style. To add energy to the space there are five layers of light present with suspended cable lighting serving as both ambient and accent lighting. The adjustable MR16 recessed lights in the kitchen serve as task lighting. The industrial style pendants are used as decorative lighting, and finally the colored LED strips at the bottom of the exposed concrete columns, add both texture and vibrance to the home.

The frameless cherry cabinets by Wood Harbor compliment the kitchen by adding contrast to the stainless steel countertops and appliances. Aluminum framed cabinets with frosted glass inserts go to the ceiling for maximum storage. With their sleek, classic styling and modern look, Sub-Zero’s stainless steel integrated refrigeration units are a perfect match for this aviation style. While in town, entertaining is a top priority for Alex, he never has to worry about running low on wine as Sub- Zero’s Wine Storage unit offers ample space for up to 78 bottles.

As if his wine storage wasn’t enough, his friends will be so impressed by the meal he prepared on his new Wolf 36” Gas Range that they will think he is not only a professional pilot, but a professional culinary chef as well. However, because of his busy travel schedule, Alex doesn’t always have time to prepare such elaborate meals. During these times, the Wolf Microwave and Warming Drawer are a perfect fit for his life style. With the help of Sub-Zero and Wolf, this aviation lover has been able to take design to new heights."

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