Anchoring Past and Present – Wellington Kitchen by Seear-Budd Ross Hamer

A strong, sculptural limestone benchtop frames the space in this renovated kitchen in Wellington. Seear-Budd Ross Hamer uses refined detailing to balance the history of the home with the needs of a modern family.

Beginning with the straightforward scope of creating an open plan living, kitchen and dining space in an early 1900s-character house in Wellington, Seear-Budd Ross Hamer saw the need to bridge the gap between the era of the house and an otherwise modern layout. However, before any design work could come to fruition, the home’s history spoke volumes, seeing the kitchen space require new foundations. “We pulled up all the floorboards and had them stored away safely,” explains architect Thomas Seear-Budd. “Then the foundations were replaced, the home levelled and the flooring laid back down with a fresh new stain. For sustainability reasons, we felt it was important to reuse what was originally there.”

Surrounding the kitchen, fine details such as artisan bronze handles on the entry doors and carefully integrated appliances help to assimilate the modern aspects with the original bones of the home.

Whilst this work was structurally required, the respect with which it was carried out shows a reverence for the home’s history, similarly evident in the kitchen’s design. “The limestone bench then becomes this really strong anchor piece for the open plan living and dining space,” says Thomas. “We used walnut for the cabinetry as we wanted the materials and detailing to hark back to the era of the house. The cabinetry features crafted detailing, with sculpted walnut handles.”

The limestone is carried into the airspace above the kitchen to form the extract box. This was a challenging feat, requiring an engineered steel frame supported from the ceiling rafters above. The bench form, which is almost sculptural in its elongated size and depth, continues along the wall where it creates a display shelf. Surrounding the kitchen, fine details such as artisan bronze handles on the entry doors and carefully integrated appliances help to assimilate the modern aspects with the original bones of the home. A laundry space is surreptitiously formed in what was previously a cleaning closet and a scullery is tucked neatly behind the kitchen, hidden by an integrated white door with subtle detailing to match the form of the walnut cabinet fronts opposite.

Lighting is minimal, allowing the stone pieces – both above and below – to be the heroes of this subtle and refined kitchen renovation.

The threshold to the rest of the living space is softened with an olive green Nodi rug made from bamboo silk, with Hans J Wegner’s CH24 dining chairs chosen for their both modern and traditional stylings. Lighting is minimal, allowing the stone pieces – both above and below – to be the heroes of this subtle and refined kitchen renovation.