Talking point

Crisp stainless steel contrasts with Chalked Oak Laminex Designed Timber Veneer in this kitchen by Auckland designer Mal Corboy

View of a kitchen designed by Mal Corbay cabinetry, countertop, cuisine classique, interior design, kitchen, real estate, room, white, orange — View of a kitchen designed by Mal Corbay which features timber veneer cabinetry with touches of stainless steel from The Laminex Group.

View of a kitchen designed by Mal Corbay architecture, cabinetry, ceiling, countertop, daylighting, interior design, kitchen, lighting, product design, under cabinet lighting, orange

Always looking to create a point of difference, kitchen designers are quick to pick up on new ideas and products.

For this kitchen, in a new townhouse in St Mary's Bay, Auckland, designer Mal Corboy specified the newly released Laminex Designed Timber Veneer in Chalked Oak. This is paired with crisp stainless steel on the benchtops and ends of the island.

"The Chalked Oak veneer has a limewashed finish that brings a little softness to the kitchen," Corboy says. "It helps offset the cool look of the LED lighting and the steel, which wraps around the top and sides of the island and tucks beneath the timber veneer panels. It is also a close colour match to the solid oak end of the island benchtop, which forms a breakfast bar."

Cabinet interiors feature Formica Melteca Silver Vapour from The Laminex Group. Corboy says the Formica Melteca looks like steel and works well with another product from The Laminex Group the Hettich hardware and soft-closing drawer systems.

"The Formica Melteca Silver Vapour gives a sleek, seamless finish to the cabinet interiors," says Corboy. "A high-end kitchen, such as was required for this project, needs a distinguishing point of difference, and this product gives it that edge."

Corboy says the kitchen has been entered into a major Australian design competition.