Siatama Kitchen Design - Bespoke Kitchen by H. Miller Bros

Liverpool-based bespoke kitchen and furniture designers, H. Miller Bros won the prestigious ‘Super Luxe Project Design’: Kitchen Category award at the UK 2022 Designer Awards with their ‘Siatama Kitchen’ design.

Their winning kitchen is inspired by traditional Japanese craftsmanship and interiors. It was designed and handcrafted in their workshop for a contemporary extension space in a West Sussex family home.

The owner had previously lived in Japan and developed a love of the country’s culture and food. Living back in the UK the clients, who now have two young sons, wanted a family kitchen that reminded them of their love of Japanese design. Included in the brief was a pantry cabinet, so frequently used ingredients and small appliances could be close at hand, and a place to display special items. They also expressed a desire for a statement island that would enable them to cook, supervise homework and socialise together as a family.

Hugh drew on his experience of Japanese craftsmanship from his travels and research in the country, to apply the specialist cabinet-making traditions he had learnt using his prized Japanese antique woodworking tools to handcraft the cabinetry.

The kitchen is made in British Elm. It is a beautiful honey-coloured timber but fairly unusual and H. Miller Bros. sourced the timber as a single tree that was delivered in raw planks with the bark still attached. This rough-sawn stock was machined, jointed, and hand-finished in their Liverpool workshop.

The island frame was made using traditional Japanese jointing techniques, with the legs made in four square staves that were based on the traditional Japanese measurement unit of one ‘sun’. The island was also designed to be open-ended with a wood worktop to provide a casual dining, coffee and homework area. The slats are part of a lighting scheme that runs around the whole kitchen - they are inspired by Japanese shoji screens and are a signature of a H. Miller Bros bespoke design. Hidden light tracks behind the slats create shadow patterns on the ceiling.

A long run of waist-high cabinets run along the back wall to house the sink, bin drawer and cabinet storage. The pantry and fridge sit next to each other, providing a single location to collect and store ingredients and produce. Bridging between the sink and pantry was a huge island measuring 3.6m long, that contained a set of lined drawers for pans, spices and utensils, as well as a special drawer for baking that is lined with a digital scale and measuring cups.

The island drawer fronts, and the base of the pantry doors, feature an intrinsic wooden chevron design to add texture and help blend the space between the kitchen and living area. Furthermore, this detail catches the light and creates areas that are bright and shaded in the kitchen.

To answer their brief to design a place to display special items from their time living in Japan, H. Miller Bros created a ‘tokonoma’ - a large piece of fitted cabinetry between the kitchen and living room, where the family can display their most treasured possessions. Cookbooks are stored under a bench seat at the bottom, and mood lighting is hidden under the ‘shoji-screen’ at the top.

White Attica Caesarstone worktops, with delicate, blue-grey organic veining, were chosen to complement the natural, organic beauty of the handcrafted British Elm cabinetry. The quartz also provided a sophisticated, polished look with definition across its flawless white base.

Adding personalised design details is part of the signature approach that H. Miller Bros kitchen creates. For example, in the Siatama Kitchen, the large statement island includes a bespoke walnut 'Island box’ - a useful ‘go-to’ utensil box so the family can easily access their favourite utensil items whilst cooking on the KitchenAid hob. Other personalized details include the integrated bespoke notch in the island box that allows the family to sit a smartphone or iPad in it, so it rests at the perfect angle to follow a recipe online or make a video call. Each drawer was also designed for a specific purpose, working closely with the owners to make sure everything they wanted to store in the kitchen has a place, and nothing is forgotten. For example, a space for their huge spice collection, a baking drawer with divided parchment nooks and some solid walnut knife blocks to keep everything organised and easy to find.

The eye-level pantry allows the family to access their most-used equipment and food in one place. To keep the kitchen clutter-free, the pantry features obscured wired glass on the door fronts that also provide contrast and interest situated next to the stainless-steel Fisher & Paykel Fridge-Freezer which sat in a specially lined nook so that it felt part of the design. Luxury Miele appliances were also integrated into the design.

H. Miller Bros created atmosphere and intimacy in the extension by creating greenery, herbs and plans such as the plumbed-in herb garden so that fresh herbs can grow and be within reach for cooking and salads, and the Japanese plant display that hangs beautifully over the pantry doors.

Hugh Miller of H. Miller Bros said, “This project allowed us to be highly creative in our workshop and infuse this luxury family kitchen design with Japanese-inspired influences and features. The star of the kitchen is the British elm timber - it allowed me to apply the cabinet-making traditions I had learnt in Japan to create functional, yet beautiful furniture pieces for this special kitchen. Because we make everything by hand, incorporating the sorts of craftsmanship details featured in the Siatama kitchen is really where we get to stretch our design muscles and develop unique ideas that we’ve never done before.”

www.hmillerbros.co.uk
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