Category
Kitchen
Location
Manchester
Year
2026
Scope
Kitchen design, lacquered island, concrete-effect cabinetry, black marble specification, bronze hardware, installation
The 2026 kitchen does not hide its colour ambition. A cobalt blue lacquer island — the precise blue of a Yves Klein canvas — against pale concrete-grey perimeter cabinetry and a Nero Marquina marble waterfall. The blue does not merely accent the room; it reorganises it. The eye finds the island first and the architecture second.
The cobalt required twenty-two coats of hand-applied lacquer, each layer sanded between passes, to achieve the depth of colour that prevents it reading as navy in shadow. Smoked bronze hardware was custom-cast in Sheffield to echo the warmth of the stone's gold veining. All cooking and refrigeration appliances are integrated behind the grey perimeter panels — the kitchen's drama is reserved entirely for the island.
Materials
- Cobalt blue lacquer island, twenty-two-coat hand finish
- Pale concrete-grey lacquer perimeter cabinets
- Nero Marquina black marble waterfall island top
- Custom smoked bronze hardware, Sheffield cast
- Large-format polished concrete floor tiles
Key Features
- Twenty-two-coat cobalt lacquer
- Waterfall marble island with full height sides
- Custom Sheffield-cast bronze hardware
- All appliances hidden in grey perimeter
- Dramatic pendant lighting above island
"The blue is the only decision in the room and it is the right decision. I've never had a kitchen I wanted to show people before."
Anya & Dmitri Volkov
Loft apartment, Manchester