Rising Aspirations and Kitchen Design

Faisal Vohra, Founding Partner, F+S Designs talks about the impact of rising aspirations on kitchen design and kitchen in builder flats in Hyderabad

Kitchen design has evolved over the years from a mere functional space to become a lifestyle statement. In some ways, it is a reflection of changing user lifestyles and a culmination of multi-generational aspirations.

Because of the growing purchasing power of the middle class and the increase in affluence, aspirations are also growing. Moreover, the access and availability of newer materials and technologies have further enhanced this.

The kitchen has come out of the mere functional domain to move towards the aesthetic and aspirational domain. The current house that they are living in might be traditional but the down the line the leap that they take for their aspirational home is significant.

Kitchens in Builder Flats

Anything to do with mass construction tries to achieve the scale of economics. They want to standardise as much as possible. It is not only in the architecture of the buildings but also in interior spaces. For example, many developers are offering flats where bathrooms and kitchens are already done. This comes as a part of the package and is a value addition that the developers are offering.

The developers typically want to bring one brand on board and give them say 100-150 kitchens to do. This brings down the cost. But design-wise, the kitchens are just brushed with the same stroke throughout.

In most cases, it has to be remodelled taking into consideration the requirement of the users. If the client approaches us at an early stage, we generally advise them to just get the shell, not anything else.

[Edited Excerpts from a Round Table Discussion on ‘Kitchens of the Future: Is Smart the Way Ahead?’ held at Avasa, Hyderabad as part of Crompton presents Kitchens Unplugged powered by Kitchen Ideas]