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Minus a set standard or pattern that dictates one kitchen solution,
timeshare developers refurbishing units and designing purpose-built
resorts have to aim for a space that is functional, inviting, and aspira-
tional. Equipped for leisurely breakfasts (by far the most popular meal
to eat in), as well as all-day grazing and sit-down family dinners.
The New Social Kitchen
Increasingly, resort kitchens are being designed to seamlessly blend
with the living area. The open-plan kitchen — merging the cooking
area, dining table, and sitting area into one large space — is still the
hottest trend in kitchen design, according to designers, home builders,
and other experts surveyed for
The New Home in 2015
, a report pub-
lished by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
“I call it the social kitchen,” says Margit Whitlock, principal and
creative director for Architectural Concepts, Inc., a San Diego,
California–based architecture and interior design firm that works with
timeshare resorts on renovations and new builds. “When you’re in a
timeshare, you’re usually making at least two meals a day, maybe a
snack. Who knows who’s eating when?” she says. “With the open
concept and unified space, people are playing games at the kitchen
table, reading, doing crafts. They’re doing more than just cooking. It
becomes part of their party space.”
Over the past five years, Marriott Vacation Club has shifted to this new
design footprint in its new purpose-built resorts. The cooking area —
the refrigerator, sink, and stove — is across the back wall, flanked by
cabinets. In front there’s an island, allowing access to the kitchen on
both sides. “Just having that small change opens up the villa quite a
bit,” Kinney says. “The space to walk around the kitchen area, which
seems to be in the front of the villa more often than not, has a much
better flow. We’ve gotten extremely favorable comments about that.”
The open plan plays to new owner demographics. Two-thirds of the
420 American and Canadian kitchen designers surveyed in the 2014
National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) Design Trends Survey
said
they incorporated docking and/or charging stations in their kitchen pro-
jects, as well as a desk or home office area, and 56 percent included a
flat-screen TV.
Changing the dynamics of the kitchen opens the way to rethinking
everything. Kitchen islands can range in size. A separate dining table
might also be raised to counter height, providing additional workspace.
Whitlock says, “Here, the demographics of the resort really matter.
Older owners at established resorts might prefer sitting at a traditional
dining table. For new developments targeting younger buyers, the
raised-height dining table is appropriate.”
Elegant and Energy-Efficient
Design styles run the gamut from classic to cutting-edge. “Design-
wise, we have made some changes, but we haven’t completely thrown
away our older standards,” Kinney says. “Stainless appliances are the
norm for us. We have vendor partners we rely on to help us pick the
appliances that fit our configuration needs. We use General Electric so
we can have a consistent product, but they’re also energy-saving
units.”
Because energy efficiency has become a point at which resort and
consumer interests intersect, savvy developers are showcasing the use
of energy-efficient appliances and recycled products early in the sales
process, Whitlock says. “When they tour people through the sales
model, they’re going to be able to say, ‘This countertop is IceStone,
which is a recycled glass product,’ and talk about WaterSaver faucets
and Energy Star appliances,” she says. “Even having a PUR water fil-
tration or osmosis system would be a big seller. It’s part of that sustain-
able mindset. They’re going to use these kinds of things as tools from
the very beginning.”
But high-efficiency appliances are more than sales tools; they’re
smart business, Kinney says. “As you can imagine in building and
maintaining a resort, the more efficiencies you can have, though some-
times small, in aggregate actually make a big difference.”
Counter-Intelligence
Eco-solutions are also transforming the most fundamental component
of the kitchen, the countertop. While granite still reigns, it is beginning
to yield some ground to a host of eco-friendly materials made from
recycled glass, crushed quartz, and porcelain, and even leftover light
bulbs.
“Like anybody else, we want to keep our finger on the pulse of the
consumer’s interests,” Kinney says. “We do test models with different
types of finishes from time to time to assess durability, aesthetics, and
to gauge people’s perception of whether it’s high value or not. We’ve
tried polished concrete counters, which is kind of a trendy thing, and
different styles of sinks, like the farmhouse sink, and different twists
here and there. Granite is still perceived as a great product, a higher-
end product. It’s easy to maintain and very durable. It’s still the best
choice for us.”
New synthetic composites using recycled glass are proving to be
even stronger and more durable than granite. Vetrazzo countertops are
manufactured from 75-percent recycled glass, plus cement and pig-
ment. They resist heat and scratches and have a life expectancy of 50
years. The company’s Alehouse Amber is made of recycled beer bot-
tles, and Cobalt Skyy contains recycled Skyy Vodka bottles. Designers
can play with pigment and glass combinations to create custom fin-
ishes.
“There are all kinds of solid surfaces,” Whitlock adds, “such as
beautiful glass countertops that are painted and back lit and just
absolutely stunning.”
Glass tile is also a popular choice for decorative backsplashes, an
ideal place to introduce a new color, add rectangular subway tile, or a
mosaic pattern using sparkly, clear, frosted, or textured glass in a wide
array of colors.
“We have used recycled glass in the backsplash and accenting,
because you can get a wow factor out of it,” Kinney reports. “If you’re
using a fairly standardized granite for the countertop, you can make
other areas pop with the accenting.”
Redrawing Space Inside — and Out
Energy-efficient LED lighting also ranks high with designers in the
NAHB report. In place of a surface-mounted fluorescent fixture or a
static line of recessed can lights, Whitlock likes to corral several differ-
ent styles of lighting suited to individual spaces within the larger room.
The key is to blend four layers of lighting — task, ambient, accent, and
TRENDS
RESORTDEVELOPER.COM
vacation industry review
APRIL – JUNE 2015
Corbis/Flirt/Image Source; Fancy/Corbis