Informal, dynamic style for K-Lab, the new kitchen model designed by Giuseppe Bavuso for Ernestomeda

Home » CORPORATE NEWS » Informal, dynamic style for K-Lab, the new kitchen model designed by Giuseppe Bavuso for Ernestomeda

The new K-Lab kitchen model, by Ernestomeda with design by Giuseppe Bavuso, comprises solutions that combine strong design impact with tasteful elegance, adopting an informal stylistic language. Featuring a system of open units with metal structure, it is inspired by the large worktops found in industrial kitchens. The carefully calculated alternation of solid blocks and open units meets functional needs and gives dynamism to the entire project. K-Lab is a kitchen of innovative design, in which tradition is attractively blended with experimentation and ‘cult’ features are mixed with contemporary lines, high-tech materials and original functional solutions. The result is a kitchen project with a refined style but a high-tech soul, able to meet all technical demands without sacrificing immaculate design values.

The new K-Lab finishes include Metallix (Platinum, Graphite, Onyx), the finish developed by Ernestomeda for metal surfaces. The bare metal is pre-treated in a sequence of phases involving a distinctive brushing process, oxidation and a special coating, implementing a patented technology which moves beyond a mere lacquer paint to maintain the original metal effect, but with impressive anti-corrosion properties.

As well as the Flat Matt and gloss finishes, the range of lacquers is extended to embrace Ernestomeda Zero Gloss™, an exclusive, high-matt, soft-touch lacquer developed through an intensive laboratory research and testing programme. This new type of finish is also available for wood, and responds to the demand for elegant, soft-touch, high-matt surfaces that reveal the original essence of the material.

There are also innovations for the wood variants, which now include the Nordic Oak and open pore Black Oak veneers and the new Heat-Treated Oak version, with introduction of the Zero Gloss finish for all three listed types. Key new entries to the range of Stone+, marbles, granites and stones are Cervino Tarmac Stone+ in bushhammered finish, Sky Grey Marble in semi-gloss finish and matt sanded Calacatta Oro Marble.

One of the main distinctive characteristics of the K-Lab project is the K-System modular open system, which can be applied to a large number of elements from base to tall units and from wall units to the island hood. The open base units are a labour-saving feature of the working zone and can be fitted with fixed or pull-out shelves. The K-System peninsula is a real table with supporting structure that can be customised in the Metallix finishes or the Zero Gloss and Flat Matt lacquered colours, and top available in the three different oak variants. In continuity with the base units or as an independent feature, the K-Table is made from the same elements as the K-System and can be personalised in the new Metallix finishes or the metal-effect lacquered colours.

The K-System universe also includes tall units, able to accommodate ovens, shelves and pull-out or fixed drawers and wall units, which support glass shelves with a structure which can be customised in the Metallix finishes or the Zero Gloss and Flat Matt lacquered colours and can also be fitted with Led Line lighting in the underside.  The sequence concludes with the K-System island hood, attractively integrated in the kitchen model, which is able to frame the hob and washing zone.

One of K-Lab’s distinctive functional and dynamic features is the frame door 28 mm thick, with Shell handle for base and tall units, or without handle for wall units (push-pull opening or shaped bottom). Various finishes are available for the frame and the front panel, from the most modern Zero Gloss and Flatt Matt lacquered options to the refined combination of Zero Gloss wooden frame and diamond-patterned glass, or the classic look with wooden frame and panel in the three K-Lab oak finishes. Metallix and lacquered finishes are available for the glass door with aluminium frame for cupboards and wall units.

The NEXUS plain door (28 mm thick) for base, tall and wall units is available in various versions: Zero Gloss veneered, Zero Gloss Matt lacquered, satined metal effect lacquered and Flat Matt lacquered. Further plain door variants: the Lever inset handle for tall units and cupboards; no handle for wall units and wall unit, cupboard and tall unit top boxes.

K-Lab’s potentials are further expanded by the Dual cooking/washing monobloc, incorporating a hob with controls on the front edge of the worktop. The sink is in the same material as the worktop, while different types of built-in installation are possible for the hob. The Gourmet hob, available built-in or welded, with controls incorporated or on the front edge of the worktop, and also ideal for wok cooking, is a real “design gem” developed by Ernestomeda. The geometric cast iron grids, tough and durable as those of professional cookers, are both stylish and convenient, since they ensure that pots and pans of any size are perfectly stable when placed over the burners, in a perfect mix of practicality and elegance. As an alternative to gas burners, the collection now also includes a special induction hob, with original screen-printing designed by Bavuso himself, that recalls the pattern of traditional gas hob grids.

The model also offers the wine cellar that fits attractively into the kitchen system and also extends it: a perfect living area for wine connoisseurs.

The kitchen and wine cellar area are connected via an adaptable passage with strong architectural impact created using the patented Inside Passage system, with doors which rotate and stow in a pack at the sides. The Inside Passage system is fully integrated in the kitchen furnishings and can be customised in the same materials and finishes as the surrounding features, guaranteeing an attractive stylistic continuity between the various surfaces.

Additional features that make K-Lab so special include: the Show Glass-Fronted Cabinet, available in both wall-mounted and floor-standing versions; the model’s collection of sideboards designed to meet all kitchen furnishing needs; the Cook chopping-board with a recess for storage accessories; the Surf System of modular inside fittings for drawers with Legrabox sides and aluminium structure.  Thanks to a vast assortment of customised accessories to meet the most widely varying needs – from knife racks to spice racks, and from coffee pod holders to jar racks or a kitchen film roll holder – and the potentials of the removable partitions of different sizes, the space inside drawers becomes modular and customisable, delivering order, storage capacity and convenience.

Another excellent contribution to a neat, convenient kitchen is the Order shelf, a genuine storage surface for installation between the base and wall units, with an aluminium structure and wood fittings. Mounted on the wall cladding, the shelf has a set of exquisitely designed accessories – such as a tablet holder and wired sockets, jar and bottle racks, glass rack and roll-holder, kitchen film-holder and trays to take various items – and is complete with Led Line series lighting in both top and bottom.