Double Sided Glass Cabinets

Double sided glass cabinets — over an island or in a wall — usher light into  kitchens in two different ways.

I’ve long been intrigued by the way top New York architects Ferguson & Shamamian use double sided glass cabinets in kitchens they design. One strategy is to add a ceiling-hung glass cabinet over an island to more or less act as a screen between the working and eating zones. For a classic white family kitchen in a 5000-square foot Park Avenue apartment [top], a large glass upper cabinet was made in three sections and centered over the island. Accessible from both sides, it has glass end panels and interior illumination plus task lighting below. The result is that it functions like a giant light fixture all around but one that can store dishes. An added benefit is that, being glass, it doesn’t block natural light from the window wall.

In a Massachusetts beach house, a trio of double sided glass cabinets was built into the wall between a large kitchen and the adjacent dining room.   Once again, these cabinets are accessible from either side. But conceptually, this is like a deconstructed butler’s pantry china hutch in a grand old 1920s-era house that, like this one, has old-fashioned divided light glass transoms over the doors. The “hutch” features drawers and cabinet storage underneath a marble counter that can be used for serving or display. Usually on a closed piece like this there would be a solid backsplash between the counter top and bottom of the glass cabinets. Here, that is abbreviated and cut away  to create a pass through. While the open section shortens the double sided glass cabinets that’s hardly noticeable. Genius.

(Source: Ferguson & Shamamian)

For more double sided glass cabinets see Cherry & Onyx Kitchen

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