Concealed kitchens

Elegant and with timeless appeal, TM Italia’s concealed kitchens are designed to reveal the workstation and the functional spaces when needed. The imposing sliding doors of the tall units retract or disappear into the side compartments using different movement systems.

Concealed kitchens are characterized by mobile elements and different movement systems that allow work areas or appliances to be hidden. Custom-made, modern and functional kitchens, which once closed give order and essentiality to the environment.

Why choose a concealed kitchen

Multifunctional and increasingly convivial environments are more and more common in interior design. Sometimes it is the limited space of urban homes that imposes the coexistence of the kitchen, dining area, living room and study premises. Much more often, however, this multifunctionality is dictated by the desire to eliminate traditional barriers and to underline the concept of family and public sharing of the various moments of the daily routine.

The concealed kitchens, thanks to the ability to integrate perfectly with other areas of the house, such as the living room or the dining room, are extremely suitable design solutions for open spaces. Linear volumes that integrate with the living environment and combine harmony and refinement.

A concealed kitchen is an impeccable project in terms of elegance and formal cleanliness. Sophisticated materials and sartorial details allow the daily show of Italian cuisine to be staged while keeping everything neat and tidy in a single volume. Thanks to opening and closing mechanisms, equipment and appliances can be hidden when not in use.

An example of this is the concealed kitchen in Canaletto walnut veneer and Pietra di Corinto stone in which the skilful combination of a few sartorial elements, made on the D90 model, allow the environment to be modified according to the customer’s needs. The tall units side with retractable doors conceal the work area in stone featuring an assembled sink and back panel in the same finish.

Concealed kitchens can be specially designed to make the most of the available space. Space-saving solutions especially suitable for small environments where preserving a good visual impact without barriers ready to accommodate different functions throughout the day is a must.

An example of this kind of solution is the retractable kitchen project in Pietra di Corinto stone which is concealed inside tall units equipped with retractable folding doors in elm essence. A project proving the sartorial ability of TM Italia.

Another solution is to opt for hybrid work environments. Thus the space used as a study can be transformed into a convivial environment with a fully functional kitchen. I

n these kitchens, extreme flexibility and design must be the main characteristics able to coexist in a multipurpose space that adapts to the incessant changes in lifestyles, as in the OFF Kitchen concept – a multifaceted, versatile and transversal concealed kitchen.

A worktop conceived as a meeting table, which, if necessary, transforms into a kitchen thanks to the equipment thoughtfully integrated into the panel of the worktop.

Types of concealed kitchens

Based on their configuration and layout, there are different types of concealed kitchens:

• freestanding kitchens, specially designed to be placed in the center of the space. The tall units are finished on all sides and thus able to fulfil the function of dividing the internal volumes, especially in open spaces and lofts;
• linear concealed kitchens, in which part of the tall units can be equipped with retractable doors to allow total or partial coverage of the operational areas;
• concealed kitchens with peninsula, in which the tall units are interrupted by a permanent peninsula which can take on convivial or home office functions when the retractable doors are closed and hide the operational kitchen setup;
• conceled kitchens with island, in which the tall units can reveal a second auxiliary operating area, doubling the cooking surface and integrating the appliances.

All kitchen configurations can be extended to the living area, with continuity of materials or contrasting ones. The setup can be flanked by boiserie, equipped wall or shelving. This type of tailor-made solutions allow not only intelligent partitioning of architectural volumes through furniture, but can also integrate access doors to other rooms.

Concealed kitchens with islands are ideal for larger spaces. The central island can be used as a worktop or dining area, while the equipment and appliances are integrated into the surrounding walls and can be hidden when not in use, creating the right mix of compactness, functionality and aesthetics.

In Lido di Jesolo, inside a prestigious residential complex designed by architect Richard Meier, TM Italia has created a kitchen with an island based on the T45 Evo model and concealed tall units, in perfect stylistic continuity with the equipped wall of the living room.

In chromatic and material harmony with the paneling of the living room wall, the kitchen features retractable folding pocket doors in sand-shaded oak, on the D90 model with inside handle.

Types of mechanisms for concealed kitchens

In these types of kitchens, by the means of appropriate retractable doors or sliding worktops, camouflage the different elements of the kitchen inside the tall units. Concealed kitchens are equipped with all the functional elements which, if necessary, can be hidden behind the doors, whether retractable, coplanar, folding or retractable pocket doors.

These doors, when retracted, require an additional space which must be taken in consideration in the designing phase; depending on the type and material of the retractable doors, this space may represent between 55 and 150 mm for each compartment that houses the doors.

The retractable doors (1) can be applied to all kitchen models included in the catalogue, as long as the tall units are deep at least 70 cm; as in the case of the kitchens created on the D90 concept, with inside handle. In this case the central doors are equipped with a retractable mechanism, through which they slide inside the structure after being opened.

The tall units of the TM Italia concealed kitchens, made in the D90 model, can feature also coplanar doors, with manual or electro-assisted opening (2). With minimal space requirements, the doors with coplanar opening system slide one over the other to reveal a workstation or other elements. In this case, the tall units have no depth limit and their width can be 180 or 240 cm.

The concealed kitchens with tall units equipped with folding doors (3), available in the D90 concept, are able to solve any storage requirements. The folding mechanism allows the doors to be closed on themselves while keeping the handle on the front for consequential extraction, as in this kitchen. In this case the tall units need to be at least 83 cm deep.

In concealed kitchens featuring folding pocket doors, the doors can be folded on themselves and housed in the side spacer allowing to conceal the operational area within a linear system of tall units. The doors fold open and retract laterally into the structure, leaving the work space completely open. These tall units can be equipped with either an inside or outside handle and are available in the G180, T45 and D90 concepts.

Home automation in concealed kitchens – functional equipment and movement systems

Concealed kitchens respond primarily to the requirement for a multifunctionality of domestic spaces and can be equipped with home automation systems that support the configuration of different use scenarios in the various phases of the day through advanced technologies and electro-assisted movements.

The home automation equipment can support the movement of worktops, the extraction of ovens or wine coolers from the island, the automatized folding of doors, the extraction of monitors or cocktail bars.

These features can contribute to the creation of multifunctional spaces that respond to different needs and can be controlled through human presence or remote voice commands, via app or remote controls.