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The island countertop/seating bar area is 10-foot by three-inch-thick pieces of cedar, laminated together as a giant butcher block as a kitchen focal point. It also is meant to compliment the edge grain fir cabinets and soften the high-tech appliance package.

Mixing materials delivers bold, unique style in a contemporary kitchen

By Sylvia Shaw

When BDR Artisan Construction Inc. of Vancouver completed a whole house renovation in South Delta, the jaw-dropping project was soon nominated for both provincial and national renovation awards. Yet, while the judges were justly impressed by the exterior transformation of the waterfront home (see Home Makeover, January 08), the kitchen deserves special recognition.

Before: Kitchen needed a lot of help.

Particularly notable is the choice of the kitchen countertops, where a blend of disparate material conspires to create a seamless contemporary look.

BDR Artisan selected unique granite from natural stone specialists M.Silva & Sons Marble and Granite Ltd. of Vancouver, as the main countertop material.

Together the disparate countertop material, all sourced locally, combine in a contemporary makeover.

"These countertops were a great find," said Brent Repin, principal of BDR. That is an understatement. The granite is a statement in colour and appears like individual beach stones, cross cut and forged together.

The Martha Study Resin countertop is the focal point of the bar and sub-zero wine storage area. It is under-lit to create two different appearances. The colour is

For the kitchen island, Repin and his clients went with an old favourite that deserves a renaissance of its own: a clean expanse of butcher block cedar, creating a work surface that reflects the West Coast theme of the makeover and the owner’s penchant for slicing and dicing.

A specialty-cut granite gives a designer take on a popular countertop material. The finished thickness is one inch. This is actual granite, but with many different types of stones which gives the illusion of a bed of river rock. The different sizes of stones were cross-sectioned when the large quarry pieces were cut into slabs. The granite was chosen for the main work areas for its durability and easy maintenance.

The kitchen makeover included a Sub Zero wine centre and small entertainment area. Here, Repin chose a resin countertop material. An exclamation point on the contemporary theme, the light-enhanced resin "is actually a piece of art," Repin said. "When the piece is backlit, it takes on a translucent look, which appears as glass. When the light is off, it forms a solid blue-green colour of the sea.

"The three different counter materials were used to highlight and define different aspects of the space, but tie them together with a central West Coast theme," Repin explained.

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