Here comes the sun

Bright yellow handmade tiles enhance the inviting, cheerful look of this kitchen in a contemporary Spanish colonial-style house in Mexico

View of dining area. beam, ceiling, dining room, estate, home, interior design, living room, real estate, table, brown, gray — View of dining area.

View of dining area. - View of dining beam, ceiling, dining room, estate, home, interior design, living room, real estate, table, brown, gray

View of hacienda-style house with plastered walls, vaulted ceiling, estate, interior design, living room, real estate, window, brown

View of hacienda-style house with plastered walls, vaulted dining room, interior design, restaurant, table, brown

View of hacienda-style house with plastered walls, vaulted estate, house, interior design, property, real estate, window, brown

View of hacienda-style house with plastered walls, vaulted wood, brown, orange

When in Rome or in this case, Mexico it pays to follow the local traditions, and this can even be applied to kitchen design and construction.

The kitchen in this house, which was designed by architect David Howell, reflects the vernacular of the region. Like the house itself, every part of it was built by hand, by a local workforce.

"Even the 50mm x 50mm bright yellow tiles were handmade and hand glazed," Howell says. "The San Miguel area is renowned for colourful tiles, and although the house has a contemporary Spanish colonial rather than Mexican architecture, we wanted to recognise this link the kitchen is like a sunflower."

The tiles line the walls and shelving, and clad the sides and top of the island. They also wrap a pizza oven on one side of the kitchen.

In contrast to the visual warmth of the tiles, the main work cabinetry features doors in mesquite hardwood another local material set in patinated concrete cabinets with concrete benchtops. The integrated sink was also formed in situ.

Another key handcrafted feature of the kitchen is the traditional be³veda vaulted brick ceiling. Similar ceilings feature elsewhere in the house, including the alfresco-style dining area. This is positioned between two wings of the house and is open to an internal courtyard and the wider desert landscape.