Hekarua Bay

A cliff-face island location with limited access, a comprehensive brief requiring a visionary solution, the need to work with an unfamiliar joinery supplier, and an exacting client demanding extraordinary attention to detail – these were all challenges designer Mal Corboy embraced when he took on this high-end kitchen assignment.

The finished project offers three-fold functionality in a stunning visual statement – a showpiece kitchen, an efficient scullery, and a temperature-controlled wine cellar – finished in zebrano timber hand-chosen in Africa, white Corian, glass and stainless steel.

Central to the space is the island, its wave-like, flared sides inversely reflecting the curve in the bulkhead above, and washed with LED lights at night in the client’s choice of colour and strength.

In the island, Corboy was asked to deliver a practical furniture piece that could accommodate stools for informal dining, but that looked as if it floated above the travertine marble floor tiles. It took an exercise in geometry, proportion and balance – and the assurance that Corian could deliver its product to precise specifications – before the finals drawings could be presented to the homeowner. The results speak for themselves.