Step inside Gastown’s Kitchen Infinity Atelier and discover an immersive kitchen and cabinetry design experience that goes beyond blueprints and material samples. The family-owned business specializes in designing luxury kitchens and cabinetry throughout the home, but they don’t always work alone. Designers and high-end homeowners with a taste for DYI are invited to descend up on the space armed with ideas and inspiration for collaborative, custom solutions.

“We’d like to call on designers to come and use the space for their designs,” says Carlos Muller, managing director. “Our space is also open to high-end homeowner customers, particularly those who may struggle to read ideas from 2D plans. We encourage these groups to come in and put their design to the test and use our space to validate their wants and wishes.”

Immersed in Design

The expansive, 7,000-square-foot showroom is a space where drawings, design wishes, pictures, Pinterest projects, design boards and other sources of inspiration are welcome. KI Atelier doesn’t charge for its design time or designs at this stage—the process is to explore the showroom and go through Q&As and wish lists to compare those with the client’s inspiration ideas.

“We are very hands on in assisting our clients to achieve their design goals,” Muller says. “For customer direct clients, we provide design feedback as well as technical expertise. For designers, we will let them take the lead on the visual while we provide technical advice on the nuances of the operation and tasteful suggestions to complement their design ideas.”

Experience the Vision

With a vision in place, KI Atelier will prepare dynamic 3D design renders and invite the client to come back in for a private presentation. As a team, they explore the whole kitchen and change any details like colours, layouts and product selection on the fly. In most cases, they have the very same hardware, cabinets, drawer, islands and live examples of the layouts in the showroom.

“We typically go to the kitchen in the showroom that suits and try the seating spaces, plates, elbow room, distance to cabinets, and other scenarios,” Muller says. “It is really the greatest advantage since many customers can’t derive these conclusions from a 2D drawing. Instead, they get to experience it and be 100% sure that the design presented achieves all of their wishes.”

Culinary Artistry

On hand to help make those wishes come true is Chef Mark Singson, KI Atelier’s in-house chef, who operates events and experiences from an immersive kitchen at the showroom, designed with eight individual stations, each with its own equipment.

“This lets everyone work with a section of the kitchen and all of the Gaggenau appliances,” Muller says. “The experience focuses on the flow of the equipment in a setting that isn’t a sales pitch, but rather an organic, fun time at our kitchen with premium food and premium cooking tips.”

The immersive experience means every design dollar spent on the kitchen is productive. KI Atelier’s design mandate is to be sure that the kitchen is as beautiful as the client’s dreams, yet functional every step of the way. Whether that beauty meets function principle is expressed in the ergonomics of the space or the placements and selections of hardware and drawers, the process from beginning to end, ends up feeling like an audit of the design and the way and what users prepare in the kitchen.

Kitchen Design 101

Muller points out that the showroom’s location at 101 Water St. a coincidental, playful nod to its ‘Design 101 Workshop’ environment where KI Atelier’s team of experts has only one mission: creating the client’s perfect space.

“We will help create a kitchen that you will love visually, but you will love cooking in it even more,” he says.

Learn more | kiatelier.com

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