The U-shaped Kitchen

There is a mistaken notion that to have a U-shaped kitchen you need to have a large square or rectangular room. Size is not so much an obstacle to this sort of shape of kitchen as are the number of doors or large openings (like archways) in the ‘wrong’ place. You would be surprised how some U-shaped kitchens can be designed to fit in the most compact of spaces.

U-shaped kitchens are functional and flexible, and, ultimately, the issue is how happy you are with the work’ environment in the kitchen. The main advantages of the U-shaped kitchen over the L-shaped kitchen are enhanced storage and greater scope for choice on where to position your workspace and appliances.

Yet, at the end of the day, the U-shaped kitchen may not consist of cupboards on three walls. You may have two of the walls taken up with the third leg’ being used as a peninsula. This may consist of a food bar, an extended hatch acting as a separator from the rest of the room or as the location for much social interaction, even if you place your cooker and/or sink in this location.

In the U-shaped kitchen nothing interrupts the line of cupboards and the person cooking is not disturbed by through traffic. As always, your first consideration is to make the work triangle of cooker, sink and fridge within the 4m-7m dimensions elaborated in the previous chapter.

Allow at least 1.5 metres to two metres of space between the legs’ of the U-shape to enable more than one person to use the kitchen at the same time. In smaller kitchens you may have to think of installing a sliding door to gain the maximum space. Ironically, the more space you have, the more likely you are to make mistakes in terms of what should go where – so do get advice.

In larger rooms you will be able to integrate the eating area in the room itself; otherwise you will have to use a separate room. If you have used part of the ‘U’ for a food bar, this could be placed at a slightly lower level for easier access by children and older people. Clearly in this case, the ‘social’ dimension is enhanced.

Try to confine the work triangle to the base of the U-shape. Follow the established practice of positioning the larger cupboards (broom cupboards or larders) on the outer edges to allow the work surface to be uninterrupted. Lighting is important and you may want to consider a pelmet with down lighters to ensure you have the right sort of light in areas like food preparation and your sink.

Finally, with the U-shape, you need to be adept at coping with corners for there are two with this shape of kitchen. Ensure that doors do not open on each other or somehow obstruct any of the appliances, which should be at least 30 cm away from the corner. You still have a lot of room for

flexibility, with bi-folding doors and carousels enabling you to maximise on access and the space available and avoid placing drawers in either of the corners. As if the angles are closing inwards this will hind and limit opening of doors and drawers.