Above: The white Corian island countertop has a
gold dusted resin inlay pattern Drake developed
to represent raindrops on the Hudson River, which
the apartment overlooks.
Facing page: All the kitchen’s functionality is on
the back wall. An induction cooktop is set into
the black Silestone countertop, while a cabinetry
tower to the left contains the fridge and to the
right a pantry. The island countertop sits on a very
large box structure which provides storage within
the kitchen and is decorated in stencilled gold leaf
on the living room side.
search | save | share at
specific challenge Drake was faced with
when designing the interior and kitchen –
a 90cm square, structural column plonked
in the centre of the space.
“I struggled with what to do with it
and in the end decided to make it much
bigger and turn it into a prominent feature.
It now has multiple functions – housing
the television, a bookcase and storage.”
The variety of materials he used for
the millwork surrounding the column
– ebonised oak, antiqued steel and grey
lacquered door frames with woven metal
mesh insets – were then used in the design
of the kitchen, but with different detailing.
They can be seen in the designated
work wall at the back of the kitchen,
which houses the cooktop, oven, sink,
dishwasher, fridge and pantry.
“Once I’d established this functional
layout, I knew I wanted a big island. I
sketched out a variety of shapes before
settling on this enormous runway that
thrusts you into the room when you come
round the corner from the entry.”
At over 5m long, the island is made of