Open and minimalist

Homeowner Carolin Mertin designed her concept130 Häcker kitchen herself and is happy that everything in her kitchen now has its own place.

Planning a kitchen on a screen or seeing a showroom kitchen in a studio is one thing, but seeing a kitchen in its natural environment, installed in an apartment or house, is something else altogether. This is why WORK likes to present a real kitchen and its owner in each issue. We like to find out why the kitchen has been designed the way it has, what the aim of the planning was and how the kitchen is used day to day.

Today it’s the turn of Carolin Mertin from Bad Salzuflen to tell us all about her Häcker kitchen from the concept130 range. She’s a member of Häcker’s internal sales team for showroom kitchen exports.

WORK: Carolin, your kitchen is in an unusual place, in an unusual home. What sort of building is this?

CAROLIN MERTIN: My husband and I bought the first waterworks building in Bad Salzuflen, a brick building that dates back to 1902. We’ve been renovating it over the past three years. The kitchen is in the former machinery room which measures 70 m2 and is where we’re living at the moment while the upstairs rooms are being finished.

So the black iron beams and chain pulley on the ceiling are original elements that you’ve kept?

We’ve tried to keep as many of the original elements of the building as possible. We particularly love the 3.5 m ceilings. When we bought the building, there were lots of glass blocks everywhere. We replaced them with newly cast, authentic, metal grid windows in keeping with the original spirit of the building. Anything else wouldn’t have felt right to us.

What was the basic idea for your kitchen?

Well, I love it when things fit together seamlessly. We wanted the kitchen to be open and minimalist. I can look over at the dining table and easily communicate with anyone sat in the large, bright room.

The kitchen is sort of split into three large blocks: the long narrow block with the sink, the tall cabinet with the oven and the island with the hob ...

We designed it like this simply due to the space available and the final version you see here is more or less the same as the first design that we came up with. For me, it was important to have clean lines. For example, with the pull-out cabinets we’ve actually added internal drawers to keep the fronts as smooth and uninterrupted as possible

„I love it when things fit together seamlessly. I can look over at the dining table and easily communicate with anyone sat there.“

Carolin Mertin

What material are the fronts made from?

They’re made from a matt lacquered laminate in graphite 3 just like the 16 mm-worktops and narrow handles. They fit nicely with the style of the windows and ceiling beams.

Does your kitchen always look this clean and tidy?

Before the kitchen was installed, we had a temporary kitchen with things everywhere, there weren’t any clear surfaces. I feel a lot more relaxed now that we don’t have clutter everywhere. This is why it was important to me that the inside of the cabinets fit all our belongings. Now everything is well-organised and structured. Each item has its own, fixed place. I could walk through the kitchen with my eyes closed and find what I need straight away because everything is always in the same place. For example, all our herbs and spices are stored in a drawer just next to the hob. You’ve maybe also noticed that there aren’t any appliances out on the worktops. They’re all tidied away.

Who actually planned the kitchen?

I did all the planning – and it took me almost two and a half years! I did learn a lot of useful tips though, like how to work out what elements to put where. I used the first sketches to work out what to put where and then I thought about how I work and move around the kitchen and what I used the most and how. Then I checked the plan again and made all the necessary adjustments. This is why there is no drawer under the hob, I realized that It would have kept getting in my way. I also added the “Barista” corner at the back left-hand side. This is where we keep all our coffee, tea, glasses, etc.

The distance between the block with the sink and the island is quite large ...

We designed it this way because this is where the path through the kitchen to the outdoor area is. There’s always a lot going on in this part of the kitchen so it’s nice to have plenty of space.

The splashback behind the sink is quite unusual isn’t it?

I didn’t want to have something solid here so I’m happy that I managed to find these small mother-of-perl mosaic tiles. They’re only 2 mm thick and I think they look very homely.

How did you come up with the idea for these industrial-style lights?

I was constantly on the look out for inspiration. We actually saw some similar lights in an industrial museum in Wesel. We loved them because we could easily imagine that there were lights just like this in our mill in the past.

Was the integrated hob extractor your idea too?

I would have liked to have a large cooker hood but our ceilings are too high.

Your cabinets are really tall. And the microwave has been installed above the oven. How do you manage to reach up there?

Honestly? I have a little wooden step that I usually keep next to the cabinet. The cabinets are 2.21 metres tall and are the largest that Häcker manufactures. It’s really difficult to reach the top! However, if the cabinets were smaller they wouldn’t have looked right because the ceilings are so high.

It looks like your island is on wheels, can you actually move it around?

Unfortunately not. It’s just a little detail that I came up with, a little nod to the industrial style of the building. So no, the island can’t move around.

So who actually cooks in here?

It’s mostly me. The kitchen is my territory, but my husband likes to help a lot.

What’s your favourite thing to cook?

Among our friends we’re known for our love of pasta and pizza. We even have a small wood pellet-fired pizza oven outside on the terrace.

Fotos: Benni Janzen

You can find more photos of the waterworks building here.

And we have more examples from our "Object" series:

A dream kitchen with a view