How will we be cooking and living tomorrow?

Kitchen Concept 2015 provides inspiration for future developments

As part of its forward-looking innovation management activities, Hettich is launching Kitchen Concept 2015, thereby offering a trends forecast for kitchen and home environments in 2015. In doing so, Hettich assumes the position of development partner to the kitchen-furniture and white-goods industry with the aim of strengthening the innovative capacity of all parties.Kitchen Concept 2015 focuses on design, convenience, ergonomics, electrification and multimedia networking. Presented for the first time at interzum 2009, key elements of the Kitchen Concept 2015 will be on display and also presented in a film at IIDEX.

In terms of design, Kitchen Concept 2015 interprets the kitchen as the hub of the home. It is integrated in the home environment rather than claiming to be the centre of attention. It is the essentials that count, with the technology – appliances, sinks and taps – disappearing behind fascias when they’re not needed. Hardware ideas for flush-fitting fronts generate new architectural options: On demand, they are electrically retracted and, in doing so, free up the work surface. An extremely shallow sink discreetly blends into the forward-pointing kitchen landscape and reduces the consumption of water. Retracting faucets underpin the trend of reducing kitchen design to what's needed without compromising on function.

As a focus of home living, Kitchen Concept 2015 is also synonymous with a positive feeling for life. This is where convenienceplays a central part. Drawers and pot-and-pan drawers that can be opened from both sides provide access to contents no matter which side of the work centre the user is standing. Electrical appliances are also set to provide greater convenience: Meanwhile, separately controllable drawers in the dishwasher can be opened from both sides, thereby making cooking with friends even more of a pleasure.

From the aspect of ergonomics, Kitchen Concept 2015 shows height adjustable wall units. Control panels on the base unit provide the capability of raising and lowering cabinet elements independently of each other, ergonomically moving cabinet contents to a level that best suits the user. As such, the kitchen is increasingly fitting in with those using it. Older people, in particular, are becoming the yardstick for product design.

In the future, multimedia networking will do much to boost convenience because in the Kitchen Concept 2015, different electrical appliances communicate with each other. The touch screen in the hob or large screen in the kitchen front can be used, for example, to display oven temperature and remaining cooking time. On top of this, Internet, television as well as other building services are operated and controlled from a central point.

In creating Kitchen Concept 2015, Hettich draws on experience with electric kitchen furniture elements and demonstrates possibilities in many application scenarios. Ideas from project studies and cutting-edge technologies are reflected everywhere in the kitchen's design. It also caters to the “iPod generation” when individual zones of the hob are no longer firmly defined or switchable circuits but flexible areas that can simply be drawn with the finger to suit the size of the pot or pan being used.

Kitchen Concept 2010 presented back in 1999 also clearly confirmed Hettich's innovative and future-focused development competency: Many of the forecasts from then now either form part of modern kitchens or are about to be included in them. Kitchen Concept 2015 aims to provide kitchen furniture and white-goods manufacturers with inspiration for taking the kitchen forward as the hub of the home. With the creative potential of all involved, and concentrating on the wishes of the kitchen user, solutions can be designed that gear every aspect of the kitchen experience and its communication and practical values to modern and open home environments.

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