To spot an Uncommon Projects kitchen look for impeccable 1970s-style plywood cabinetry and an adept way with color. Architect Alan Drumm and product designer James Hoy founded their London firm to create tailor-made modern spaces. The two study each client’s ways in the kitchen–their approach to cooking, the goods they cram behind closed doors, their go-to mugs and cereal bowls. And then they come up with solutions that celebrate all.
“Our approach is material-led and function-first,” says Alan. “While many modern kitchen designers favor uniform cabinetry, we embrace the diversity of your belongings—incorporating varied drawer depths, shallow cupboards, and open shelving, so there is truly a place for everything, and our projects are never visually boring.”
Inspired by their their results, we’ve highlighted five examples of Uncommon storage solutions and other extras. The company is London based and works throughout the UK; we hope Stateside firms study their example.
Photography by Jocelyn Low, courtesy of Uncommon Projects (@uncommon_projects).
Bottle Service
Above: A bottle rack is artfully incorporated into a North London Victorian terrace house kitchen.
“An important part of the brief was to create lots of display space for the clients’ own ceramics and to avoid a neutral color palette,” the designers write. Their use high pressure laminate (HPL, made from layers of kraft paper and resin) on birch plywood, and here went with coral, pale pink, and inky blue. The Y Stools are an Uncommon Projects design sold on their own in a variety of colors and finishes.
Above: In a Hackney eat-in kitchen, a long table bench provides extra storage, including a section that is exactly bottle height.
Recipes at the Ready
Above: A family of four in a North London Victorian house, asked for a colorful new kitchen with plenty of storage, including for cookbooks.
Alan describes the palette as “an unapologetic shade of coral pink and orange”—and explains: “On its own, this could easily have been hard to live with long term, so we introduced a base of dark brown. It tones in well with the floor, pink and orange, and helps ground the colors.” It features a pair of Uncommon’s Y Bar Stools and their cork-veneered Magnetic Knife Block. Go to A Vibrant Family Kitchen to see more.
Above: The designers describe this Southeast London kitchen as “modern plywood joinery in dialogue with a Victorian coach house.” Here, they unexpectedly tucked the cookbook shelves into one of the island.
Display Niches
Above: Where to store XL serving bowls so they’re on hand and adding visual interest? Uncommon placed them front and center in this minimalist extension. Also note the cork-veneered cabinet fronts.
Explains Alan, “We often use cork to bring texture and warmth to a project. Sometimes it’s better to bring another texture to a project rather than another color.” A renewable, eco-friendly material, cork has a lot of household uses: see some more in our Trend Alert.
