HOUSTON – (By Michelle Leigh Smith) – What appeals to a royal household often resonates with discerning American homeowners.
“The kitchen of the future will be a Howdens kitchen,” declares Rob Fenwick, Chief Operating Officer of UK-based Howdens, one of the largest cabinet makers in the Western hemisphere.
Howdens Joinery recently hosted a Collaborative Roundtable at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston, bringing together apartment developers, architects and home builders to reimagine the modern kitchen. The session served as a preview for The Kitchen Transformation Tour 2017.
So what does the kitchen of tomorrow look like?
Expect innovative storage solutions—drawers within drawers, tall units replacing shorter cabinets—and a more open, airy feel. The preferred color palette leans toward greys and combinations of navy blue with soft grey. Mixed finishes will help conceal appliances for a seamless look. Flooring will emulate rich, hand-hewn wood while appliances will be both highly functional and state-of-the-art. At the Hyatt exhibit, landscaped pull-out drawers featured custom grooves to protect plates, saucers and fine Royal Doulton teacups.
Storage is central to the concept. “We supply components in a specialized way,” Fenwick explains. “We have an immense heritage and more than 50 years’ experience manufacturing kitchens in the UK. This is not just a flash but a heritage of provenance.”
Despite its long-standing reputation—including being granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment by Her Majesty the Queen—Howdens is increasingly seen as a disruptor in the industry. “Our inspiration begins with the fact that the kitchen is the center of our lives,” Fenwick says. “If there’s a family row, if there are deals to be done, bills to be paid, a thorn in the dog’s paw, it all happens in the kitchen. We are making space more valuable.”
Fenwick describes the company’s business model: “We had the foresight to see that the best way to serve our customers was through a business-to-business approach and by supplying specialized components. We maintained manufacturing of cabinet countertops and formed partnerships with top Italian furniture makers.”
In the UK last year, Howdens delivered and installed more than 425,000 kitchens, working closely with developers and builders.
Fenwick joined Howdens in 2001 and led the company’s shift from a vertically integrated model to a commercially focused operation starting in 2005. Today Howdens supplies over 400,000 trade account holders with millions of products annually: roughly 4 million kitchen cabinets, 2.4 million doors, and 1 million worktops and breakfast bars.
Just before the Houston stop, Fenwick met with Google in San Francisco to explore smarter kitchen features—such as remotely starting a coffeemaker from a smartphone.
The Kitchen Transformation Tour shaped its vision through global research, exhibitions and customer surveys. “We visit top shows in Milan and work with specialists in Japan, Austria and Sweden,” Fenwick says. The approach addresses both single-family and multi-family markets. According to Rob Britt of Hanley Wood, who attended the Houston event, a survey of 25,000 renters found that a full kitchen is the top requested amenity for 65 percent of respondents.
Howdens is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Howden Joinery Group PLC is the parent company of Howdens Joinery, the UK’s leading supplier of kitchens and joinery products to trade customers.
Nov. 15, 2016 Realty News Report Copyright 2016