Big squeeze

"Six years ago we provided kitchens for a selection of standard house types and we knew what we had to do - sometimes we didn't even have to design anything. Now what we do is much more bespoke and site-specific," says David Heskith, Southern manager of contracts for German kitchen manufacturer Alno.

Alno is supplying the kitchens for Laing Homes' Terrazzo development in London's Islington, an example of how unusual brownfield sites are dictating the shape of rooms. The 24 three-bedroom townhouses are arranged in a curved terrace, which means the kitchens are wedge-shaped. "The shape gives the kitchens character," says Tony Woodman, sales and marketing director of Laing Homes. "But to make the most of them we had to work closely with Alno. We briefed them and they came up with design ideas and solutions. All the nice little features are the result of our collaborative efforts."

Most of the design features made use of areas that had been overlooked in less space-conscious times (see right). For example, under the stairs a fridge and freezer have been fitted, and in leftover spaces at the end of wall units there are niche boxes. "Storage is so important. If you've got space use it - don't leave empty gaps," says Woodman.

Lester Bennett, design director at West End Quay, believes that with modern space saving devices kitchen size isn't so important - particularly in apartments. "It's not about volume in the kitchen any more. It's about style. All you need is a cabinet or two and pan drawers but they must be well made. If not complex units will eventually fall apart," he says.

Kitchen manufacturers are continually coming up with new space saving designs. For example, the magic corner solution allows easy access to the dead corners where cabinets meet at 90 degrees. Two interlocking wire framed sections are pivoted so that baskets swing within reach of the user when the door is opened. The space under sinks can also be utilised by fitting U-shaped draws, which wrap around waste disposal units

Appliance manufacturers are also producing models with the smaller apartment in mind. Combined washer dryers like the Bosch at Terrazzo are now common, and the market is seeing more white goods with depths of 400 and 500 mm rather than the standard 600 mm.