To achieve the effect of volumes that seem to float in space, the design solutions can be manifold and one of these is kitchens with base and tall units floating from the floor, which can follow linear or angular layouts or be flanked by an island supported by plinths. With the right hardware and technical know-how, the possibilities in floating kitchen design are almost endless.
Designing a floating kitchen
Floating base units are anchored to the wall using high-performance steel hardware, leaving the space below free. It must be ensured, that the wall in question is load-bearing or reinforced and is therefore capable of supporting the weight, otherwise feet must be applied to discharge the weight to the floor.
Floating base units can be fitted with doors, drawers and deep drawers with a height between 48 and 60 cm. Some types of dishwashers designed especially for this type of design can also be placed in wall-hung base units.
The worktop can be fitted without compromise, with washing, cooking and extraction facilities as in any other kitchen. It is always advisable to have the design well defined before structural work in order to be able to make all the necessary changes to create a fully-equipped floating kitchen.
Naturally, in addition to the base units, tall units can also be floating, allowing the floor to be left completely free. The height of the floating columns can vary between 132 and 240 cm. If greater heights are required, taller columns can be applied with a height varying between 24 and 72 cm.
Possible layouts
Being wall-bound, wall-hung kitchens usually follow a linear or angular layout. However, there are various solutions to create a more articulated and heterogeneous layout.
A worktop supported by steel reinforcements can be attached to the wall-hung base units to act as a peninsula.
Alternatively, one can opt for a transparent glass plate that gives support to the additional worktop, but at the same time does not create visual obstructions.
To add an island on the other hand, you can opt for the solution with metal plinths that lighten its appearance by lifting it off the ground.
Kitchen with a floating structure
Base structure units are another solution that adds lightness to the kitchen environment by lifting base and tall units off the floor. The island can also be floating with this solution.
All connections, both for water and for the hob, are positioned in the exact centre of the island, becoming completely unnoticeable.
The plinths can be made in different finishes, such as the pink copper used in the Miuccia kitchen. This solution suggests a fresh and contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional kitchen environment where cupboards and cupboards were the protagonists. While for a more industrial style, anthracite metal plinths can be chosen, as in the Rua model.
The advantages
In addition to visual lightness and contemporary appeal, the floating kitchen makes rooms appear larger by showing a greater portion of the floor and increasing the perception of space.
From the point of view of hygiene and practicality, this solution allows for more thorough cleaning by not having a plinth behind which dust can settle.
Being raised from the floor does not reduce the thermal radiation of underfloor heating, reducing energy loss. Suspended base units involve a slight reduction in storage space but this can be balanced with columns or wall units, as in the project in Sydney where the suspended base units of the Miuccia model are flanked by full-height columns.
From an ergonomic point of view, on the other hand, having the base units raised from the floor by about 25 cm puts everything within reach and excludes precisely the narrowest spaces in the kitchen furniture. In addition, the suspension greatly increases the degree of freedom in choosing the height of the worktops, as they are freed from the height of the plinth.
Bright atmospheres
The bases raised from the ground can be equipped with stripled lighting that enhances the sense of optical lightness by cancelling out shadows on the ground.
Cleverly designed partitions and lighting installations can create evocative night effects and domotically controlled scenarios that generate changing interactions with the space.
Materials
Thanks to hardware that can withstand heavy weights, TM Italia’s wall-hung cabinets can be made of any material, including stone, quartz or stoneware.
Nevertheless, when the objective is to lighten the environment, the choice of less heavy materials is preferred, both from a material and visual point of view.
Traditional or metallic lacquers that reflect light, glass, real metals or light woods are excellent solutions for a floating kitchen.
When it is not possible to choose a wall-hung kitchen but you do not want to renounce lightness, this can be achieved through transparencies.
As in the Rua kitchen, for example, whose Belgian fluted glass doors used for the tall units not only help to lighten the volumes, but also create elegant see-through transparencies and a pleasant alternation with the fluted oak doors.
An intriguing idea of how to create an open treasure room is the sophisticated oak panelled larder unit with custom-made shelves bordered by full-height totally transparent glass doors. Finally, there is the play of full and empty spaces to alternate at will to satisfy functionality and the aesthetics of lightness, as in the Avignon model.
Here, too, the possible solutions rival the designer’s creativity and the client’s needs: from the passing shelves that create fluid partitions of the rooms, to the cantilevered snack tops in the most varied materials in continuity with the worktop, to the suspended hobs that enhance the subtlety of the appliances housed in them.
Floating furniture
The absolute freedom of design allows the creation of customised furniture that stands out for its high quality materials and fittings and innovative solutions.
Among the realisations we find a bookcase anchored to the ceiling in the redevelopment project of a former cinema, a TV cabinet with fabric-covered fronts to contain the sound system, a floating hall cabinet covered in gold leaf, as well as bathroom furniture made of various materials including wood, metal, stone or lacquer.