The Broken-Plan Kitchen

The space stays visually connected but is divided into defined zones using half-height joinery, level changes, screens or glazing instead of full walls. You keep the light and sightlines while giving each function its own territory.

A tall unit bank turned at ninety degrees, a change in ceiling height, a glazed partition or a step between kitchen and living area all define a boundary. The eye reads a separate room while the space remains one volume.

Many condo plans give one large rectangular living space with the kitchen at one end. Broken-plan lets you stop that kitchen from dominating the room without losing the daylight that comes from the single glazed wall.

Broken-plan contains smoke and aroma better than full open-plan but nowhere near as well as a door. If heavy wok cooking is a daily event, plan serious extraction or a separate kitchen rather than relying on the partition.