FOCUS | Lockdown design competition Well-rounded thinking


Scott Lawrence (pictured) of Yeo Designs won the Concept of the Year for his innovative ideas. kbbreview managing


editor, Andrew Davies, talks to him about his design


design was unique and followed all of the requirements that were set out in the brief.


S


The first thing that Lawrence did was move the whole kitchen up a floor from the original plans. Moving this made a space for a granny flat on the ground floor and it gave a better view of the coast for the whole family in the kitchen and living room.


The design hit all the points of the brief and considered every member of the family, from the granny to the kids to the parents’ aesthetic tastes and the family pets. The design was also influenced by the materials around Devon, making use of local wood. Scott Lawrence spoke with Andrew


Davies on The kbbreview Podcast to discuss


the overall Q & A


Andrew Davies: So, have you moved into a lighthouse yet? Scott Lawrence: We were actually looking to purchase a lighthouse to renovate


so we could what we can do on Instagram.


AD: There we go – serendipity! Tell us about who Yeo are? SL: We have a design studio in London,


which is off Ladbroke


Grove, and we also have offices in Bude in Cornwall, plus a workshop in Devon.


AD: The design competition was a local job... SL: Yes, the guys down in Bude and Devon just loved the concept.


AD: Talk us through the process you went through with this? SL: I love curves so, for me, I thought that this was a fantastic feature. The brief, which was key, was all about the details on the family,


technology and connection to the outside world.


AD: What was interesting about your design was that you totally


50


AD: What material is the island unit made from? SL: It is made of two sections of


the showcase design concept of his lighthouse. and


moved the whole thing around and you took the kitchen out of the room we told people to use and bumped it up a floor… SL: We wanted to bring it up and give it more of a position of light – especially in the kitchen – and open it out. Although it did mean that the space was a little bit smaller for us, as the tower tapers. It did give us the ability to add on that extension section with the living room all together. Also, it gave us the choice to have the granny flat downstairs, so she could get her peace and quiet.


AD: What were your thoughts behind the kitchen design? SL: I like the kitchen philosophy of separate parts that are put together to work as a whole. Because we put that living area into the kitchen – the bigger living space – I wanted to connect the two. It started with connecting the two and deciding how we could have everyone together in a family space. I wanted to bring technology into it – a juxtaposition of old and the new. I wanted to put a Lamborghini inside the tower but make it work every day.


AD: There is a cutting-edge technology, but also a lot of natural local materials… SL: We tried to look into everything that is local. People in Devon and Cornwall are very proud of their locality and the materials.


cott Lawrence of Yeo Designs won the Concept of the Year accolade. His


I like the kitchen philosophy of separate parts that are put together to work as a whole


concrete – one at each end – held together with a central bridge. On that bridge, I put in the elements like the pan drawers, the storage and the lighting. I left the worktop separate to that section in the core, so it can lift up and down. I like to look at how things work from an engineering viewpoint. I left the top as glass, so you can see through to the floor, which gives it a bit of grounding.


AD: What I liked about your design was that you took into consideration the lighthouse part of the design and turned beams of light into architectural features. SL: We looked at the position of the sun, how it comes across, and the shadows it makes as it moves, and then used those shadows as a theme to bounce around the drawing plans, and then elevated them to where they are now.


AD: There is a great peninsula seating area that goes up and down. Talk us through that… SL: That’s the Japanese side of the seating. I made the outside pod slightly separate to the ground floor. I put it on some pillars and lifted it above the lower roof line. But that obviously caused us to have two steps down into the kitchen. That meant we could transition to different finishes, lights and heights. Then I decided I wanted to send this kitchen flying into this open space with the seating. Naturally then, I thought let’s create a seating area like at a teppanyaki so the family could be very close and grounded. Then I thought that granny might not be


able to do that without great difficulty and imagined how we could raise it. I connected it to the island on a cantilever mechanical lift that works on a hinge.


I could connect the two worlds of Japanese


culture and European way that we sit.


AD: The main island is where the technology comes in. There is the oven that comes down from the ceiling and the heads-up display that comes out… SL: I didn’t want to keep thinking that an oven has to be here or there against


a wall. Maybe it can be


freestanding and go wherever you want, as it is only connected by a cable. So, the heads-up display gave me the option to have cameras inside the ovens, so you could see everything from the iPad.


AD: Talk us through the lights in the ceiling… SL: I was trying to bring the lighthouse fresnel lenses down into the living area. I cut holes in the ceiling in the pods for those lenses that focus the beam and give it its strength. We also changed the lenses to different colours to bring some colour and add some drama.


AD: Your colleague Adam was also a finalist in the bathroom category. It just shows how much thought has been put into it… SL: Working as a team gives us creative freedom. Working together from the concept and looking at how we can manufacture things. For me, it is a great team to work with.


· September 2020 also the


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