01
Island as the whole plan
A single twelve-foot stone run carries the cooktop, prep and seating, so the perimeter stays quiet and the cook is never boxed in.
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Kitchen remodel · Walnut Creek, East Bay · 2026
The Foundry Kitchen
The owners cook every night and entertain most weekends. They wanted a kitchen with the atmosphere of a private supper club — low light, dark stone, warm metal — that still works as the busiest room in the house.
- Size
- 480 sq ft kitchen and pantry
- Scope
- Design, selections, project management
- Duration
- 7 months
- Island
- 12 ft single-slab run
The brief
- One long island that seats four and carries the cooktop without feeling like a barrier.
- Storage on display — glass-and-steel vitrines instead of closed upper cabinetry.
- A dark palette that still feels warm at night and never reads cold by day.
The approach
02
Light as material
Backlit bronze-glazed tile, lit vitrines and caged filament pendants do the work — the room is designed for evening first, daylight second.
03
Honest structure
The exposed spiral duct and board-formed concrete ceiling stay visible and were coordinated with mechanical early so nothing had to be boxed in later.
04
Garden as the fifth wall
Steel-framed sliders and a retained glass-block screen bring two directions of light into a plan that would otherwise be dark.
Renderings
Five views of the finished design.
Materials
- Fumed oak cabinetry
- Honed dark stone counters and monolithic island
- Bronze-glazed stacked ceramic tile
- Blackened steel vitrines and hardware
- Board-formed concrete ceiling
- Cognac leather cantilever stools
The outcome
- Every appliance, outlet and tile transition specified before bidding — no change orders on finishes.
- Delivered in seven months from first measure to final install.
- The kitchen now hosts the family's weekly dinners of twelve without a dining room.
“It looks like a restaurant we would book a table at, and it cooks like a kitchen we actually live in.”
Next step
Begin with a complimentary in-home consultation
Ninety minutes in your home to talk through scope, sequencing and budget. No cost, no obligation.