Award-winning architecture and interior design firm CetraRuddy is no stranger to creating bespoke elements for its projects. But, for the first time, the firm is foraying into the realm of product design — starting with its kitchen line, Inspira.
Photos by Bilyana Dimitrova
“All of our work is about ‘home,’ creating environments for socializing and nurturing,” says Nancy Ruddy, one of the founding principals and a 2015 inductee into the Interior Design Hall of Fame. “In contemporary life, our lives revolve around the kitchen, which is not just a space for food preparation. It is the place where people convene, share their day, do their homework, and create special projects.” And, if there’s a firm fluent in the language of kitchen design, it’s CetraRuddy. “We have designed more than 50 custom residential kitchens for individual clients and multifamily residences. It is a space we know well and feel we have special insight into.”
The outcome is a handsome, clean, and welcoming aesthetic that would equally be at home in a modern or traditional setting. Its most prominent feature is a wood proscenium that frames the cooktop and surrounding drawer units. A ventilation-hood cover emphasizes this arch by running the entire width between. And clever niches within the wood provide additional storage for quick-access items without cluttering the counter space. “The proscenium defines the hearth area. It is reminiscent of the great manor houses of New England and France yet scaled to our own castles,” explains Ruddy.
Photos by Bilyana Dimitrova
Inspira can be specified in three sophisticated color-and-material palettes: white enameled wood with nickel detailing such as elegant drawer outlines, ebonized mink wood with statuary bronze, and back-painted milk glass with nickel trim. “We wanted to create very different choices within the line that all reflect the crafted approach to the design of an American kitchen in a modern style yet is referential to great tradition,” says Ruddy. The countertops and backsplashes come in white or gray Calacatta marble or gray Concordia stone, while all the hardware (pulls, for instance) and metal frame legs on the islands in polished nickel or bronze. In addition to the cabinetry doors, Inspira offers matching overlay pieces for concealing appliances such as the refrigerator. The design team considered everything down to interior organization, too. “There are a myriad of inserts in the system. Everything from pullout spice racks and Lazy Susans to utensil storage units and recycling components.”
Produced by Italian company IRP, the Inspira kitchen will be available starting in November.
