Winning recipe fresh and original

Concrete block, trestle legs and electronic doors... Kim Dungey finds that a winning Wanaka kitchen is anything but traditional.

A Wanaka kitchen that won top honours at the national kitchen and bathroom awards could not be more different from the sleek European-style kitchens that have dominated the event in recent years.

Judges described Melanie Craig's design as fresh and original.

At 27, Craig was the youngest person ever, and only the second woman in 10 years, to win the award for best kitchen design.

She feels homeowners are tiring of monochromatic colour schemes and "stereotype white kitchens" that people are scared of touching in case they start to look untidy.

"They're really wanting personality brought back into their homes so their home looks different to everybody's else's and are getting more confident about [using] colour ... It's a very cool industry to be in at the moment."

"I see a lot more detail coming back into the kitchen and it getting a bit more family-friendly ... We're probably going to see a lot more different materials being applied ... and different ways of using materials as well."

The new kitchen was part of the renovation of a 1960s bungalow and Craig took her inspiration from the more detailed architecture of that period.

"At the back of the kitchen is stacked block," she says.

"That was a bit of a feature in the old house and we tried to pull it through into the new house but create a design feature out of it."

This "concrete backdrop" was achieved by slicing concrete block and applying only the raw face, almost like wallpaper. The concrete veneer meets up with a concrete block wall outside.

The island was based on the idea of an architectural workbench for culinary creations and features a stainless steel top supported by a trestle leg.

The middle-aged clients also wanted to cook outside so the main bench stretches out on to the deck, separated only by a glass sliding door.

Ovens are wrapped in compressed stainless steel, which can be used as a landing place for hot dishes, and stainless steel was also used to support and frame high floating cabinetry.

A 3m-long scullery with appliances, storage and a second sink is hidden behind an electronic roller door.

"It opens just like a garage would outside," Craig explains.

"And all the top cupboards are electronic so no longer do you have to step on a stool to open your top cupboard. You just touch the face of them and they open up ..."

The design, which had to fit within the relatively compact footprint of the previous kitchen, cost about $40,000.

"It looks quite simple but there's a lot of specialised hardware in it. If you opened all the drawers, you'd certainly see the investment."

Judges at the National Kitchen and Bathroom Association awards praised the kitchen's slightly retro look, its impressive combination of materials and its seamless connection with the indoor and outdoor living areas.

As well as being named best kitchen, the design was the southern region winner and won awards for creative excellence and most innovative kitchen. Craig's prizes include a trip to an international design expo in Milan next April.

Originally from Gore and now living in Timaru, the certified kitchen designer launched Melanie Craig Design seven years ago.

Starting a business in the recession was difficult, particularly in Southland where she was competing against joiners doing kitchen designs for free, she says.

However, she and her business partner now have studios in Timaru, Wanaka and Gore, designing kitchens, bathrooms and interiors.

"I started at a really hard time and often it would have been easier to just throw it all in and start something else. But I'm really passionate about it so I kept trying and this [award] made all that trying seem really worthwhile."