Super bowls: kitchen sinks hit their stride with more material and style options

Building Products, May-June, 2004 by Linda C. Lentz

This functional concept has taken hold with a number of trend-setting manufacturers. Franke's Magnum food preparation sink features a wooden knife rack and utensil wells along its back deck. Julien--a Canadian maker of commercial equipment that entered the residential market last year with a line of innovative 16-gauge professional-quality products--introduced a clever under-mount with self-draining tilt-top drawers on each side of the bowl to store cleaning tools. Plus it has an AquaCenter that not only boasts an integrated counter and sink, it houses a fully featured Jenn-Air-made dishwasher and storage compartment below.

Likewise, the somewhat more modest KitchenAid Briva in-sink dishwasher features a removable rack and spray arm in one of its capacious dual bowls. The drop-down steel lid covering it doubles as a cutting- or drainboard. "This would be great for an in-law's quarters or secondary home," says Kenny.

For ease of installation and high-tech appeal, the Blanco Module is a one-piece stainless steel sink and top that adjoins the adjacent counter and eliminates the cutout. Meanwhile, the Moen Lancelot and the Teka TU34.18-R have sleek under-mount appeal in addition to superior sound insulation and spacious curved bowls to maximize efficiency, company officials say.

BEYOND FUNCTION

"What our upper-end clients are looking for in terms of sinks is both style and function," says custom builder Gregory Heinze, president of Tualatin, Ore.-based Shelburne Development. "We're doing a couple of houses now with primary sinks made of hand-pounded bronze and other metals."

In addition, he's used more decorative or handcrafted farm-style sinks with apron fronts such as Elite Bath's solid bronze Chameleon collection with interchangeable aprons featuring nature-inspired reliefs and Stone Forest's 16-gauge handcrafted copper farmhouse sink.

"We always advise our clients to upgrade to the nicest sink they can afford," acknowledges Kenny. "The kitchen is the focal point of the home and that's where people are going to be."

RELATED ARTICLE: Entertaining options.

With the proliferation of large entertaining kitchens, manufacturers am exploring how best to satisfy the changing needs of builders, remodeling contractors, designers, and homeowners.

"What we've been trying to do," says Laura Roenitz, senior market analyst for kitchen products at Kohter, "is open up a line of thinking about how you design your kitchen space." Consequently, she and her team examined how people really use sinks for primary and secondary functions such as food preparation and entertaining. This. Roenitz claims, was the inspiration behind the Undertone under-sounter trough sink.

A radical departure from the standard secondary sink, this long, narrow unit is available in 23-, 33-, 43-, or 60-inch lengths, all 8 1/4 inches wide by 5 15/16 inches deep. "With the long trough in the middle of your island, it opens up five other workspaces." says Roenitz. "So you can have five people working at one time, as opposed to everyone crowded around one little space."