Kitchens Layouts

We see this everyday, but few of us have bothered to notice that kitchens have 3 'Work Centres' vis-a-vis The Stove, The Sink and The Fridge. These three points and the imaginary lines between them, make up what architects call 'The Work Triangle'.

The shape of the kitchen work triangle is used to determine efficient kitchen layouts. 

Kitchen Layouts :

1. Single Walled Kitchen

The Single-Wall or Straight Kitchen:

The Single-Wall or Straight Kitchen:

This is an ideal solution for studio apartments or small homes being used as guest houses or where cooking takes a back seat! In bigger homes, it is a new style statement in kitchens! The idea is to have the fridge, the stove and the sink  all against one single wall. This gives a clean and clutter free feel. 

The entire counter along with the fridge could be set in a depth of 75cm from the wall, and could be cleverly concealed behind a sliding door. When in use, you could slide the door open and use the sink and stove. 

2. U Shaped Kitchen

The U shaped kitchen theoretically works to be the most efficient of all kitchen designs where all the 3 work centers, are on one of the 3 arms on the U, essentially with the sink in the centre. The kitchen should be wide enough to allow a work counter of width 60cms to run on all 3 sides of the room, thus ensuring there is free flow of traffic for the cooks using the space. 

3. L Shaped Kitchen
The counter is in the shape of the alphabet "L" and is the most popular of all! Here, we place the fridge at the end of the either legs' of the L counter, and the other two work centers somewhere along the counter space. This works well for narrow kitchens, which does not support a counter space on the third side of the room. And it also looks good in an open kitchen- looking into a family dining space.

4. Galley KitchenAs the name suggests, this layout is having work centers across an alley.
It is popular in  restaurants and other commercial kitchens or residences with rectangular kitchen spaces. A long, narrow space of minimum/comfortable of  90/120 cm between the two counter space is essential. You could have a pantry at one end of the galley while the other end could open into the family dining.

5. Island Kitchen

The kitchen has to be really large to allow a decent size island of 90x120 cm in the middle of the kitchen space and a minimum passage of width 75-80cm running around it , beyond which is the work counter. The island can have either the stove or the sink on it. It is possible to have a non-functional island which has no work center but can be used as a storage unit or a dinette or even a chopping and reading table! Extended versions of this layout could be a L shaped kitchen with an Island or a U shaped kitchen  with an Island!! An island is quite a glamorous feature,  but if added to a space which is not sufficiently large will make the kitchen very clumsy and cramped.