“The biggest challenge was talking my wife into having our bed in the kitchen...”
- Jack Hawkins, on building a Minimalist Home
Hawkins & Associates is a well-known design firm specializing in contemporary architecture and interiors. Their head architect, Jack Hawkins, a certified LEED AP (Green Building Certification), has been practicing sustainable architecture for over 25 years. When it came time to build his own home and kitchen, in Reno, Nevada, rather than building a spacious, dream home, Hawkins decided to apply the green approach to the extreme and “wanted to see how small we could live.” The result is a 1,000 square foot multi-leveled minimalist space.
The main floor is one open space that works as an kitchen/dining/living space. The main kitchen area was creatively tucked beneath the exposed steel staircase. Custom cabinets climb step-by-step with a hot-rolled steel stair until they level out at counter height. The changes in cabinet depth also help to indicate a subtle shift living space to working space.
The steel doubles as an easy to clean backsplash for the cast-in-place concrete counters. The steamed beech millwork throughout the home provides a warm contrast to the other raw materials.
Hawkins designed a murphy bed to fold down in the main living space to create a master suite. Pocket doors made of etched glass hide the combination bath/laundry/closet space. The staircase leads to a reading loft, which creates a communal quiet space away from the living/workspace. The overall effect of the design “really talks about the kitchen as being more than a kitchen,” commented the Residential Architecture judges. “It's art the way it's done.” So much so, that it received a merit award for its combination of mulit-use space. We find the design to be the epitome of the social kitchen by truly placing the workspace in the middle of the living space and creating an inviting atmosphere.
