Glass walls allow kitchens to go green — inside and out
Bringing natural light and color indoors by creating a window wall in a cooking space is a glorious point of view. In an 1883 Victorian townhouse in Chicago [top and below] the entire back façade up to the gabled first-floor roof was replaced by commercial-grade, aluminum-frame windows plus a door that leads to a deck. The kitchen overlooks the backyard and a garage. Indoors, modern solutions don’t compete for attention: flush or hidden appliances and storage, green appliance materials and brands, shiny cabinets, minimal embellishment, few accessories and, as a result, dreamy serenity. 
Architect Patrizio Fradiani also chose to conceal the refrigerator, pantry and even a powder room behind a wall of sleek, white-lacquered cabinet doors which blend well with the Poliform stainless steel island and vent hood. Apple-green accent walls echo vegetation in the yard and remain cheerful during the winter.
Elegant luxury is the keynote for this white Bulthaup kitchen in a 4000-square-foot Connecticut house in Fairfield Country, powered by passive solar and geothermal energy. Here, the glass walls retract to bring the outdoors in. Flush and minimalistic, Bulthaup kitchens include the green-chic standards: SubZero refrigerator, Miele ovens, and Gaggenau cooktop.
