Hide and Seek

The kitchen is the centerpiece of a residence that functions not only as a living space for architect Dov Secter and his young family, but also his show home and office, in the River Heights neighborhood of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Thus the kitchen has to serve many needs. It has to have a decidedly modern and minimalistic aesthetic, to showcase Dov’s sense of design. It needs to provide cooking and entertaining space for a large extended family. And it requires quickly accessible storage so cooking equipment, books, even his children’s toys can be stowed quickly when clients come through. Dov designed many features to minimize clutter while maintaining maximum functionality. For example, a motorized storage unit is built into the center of the island that, at the push of a button, rises to reveal a number of small appliances: blender, mixer, food processor. The stone countertop was water jetted for precision, so the cut where the pop-up is looks completely seamless. (There are other motorized features elsewhere in the kitchen, including a touch-sensitive garbage cabinet you can open with your foot, when your hands are dirty.) And hidden behind what looks like a wall adjacent to the wall ovens and refrigerator is a large pantry, which stores the fresh and dry foods that the family often uses when preparing from-scratch meals. “Hide and seek”, then, is no exaggeration.