FORT LAUDERDALE, FL— On a recent episode of Bravo’s Top Design, ELLE Décor’s Margaret Russell said of one designer’s feline-friendly room, “You can’t just design a room around the cat!” Is it, in fact, possible to create a successful design based around a single object? That very question was posed for one Florida designer: “Can you design a kitchen around the faucet?”

The assignment was to create an innovative, beautiful and highly functional kitchen centered around Hansgrohe’s Axor Starck Semi-Professional Kitchen Faucet, which was designed for Hansgrohe by French designer Philippe Starck.

For Cesar and Christine Conde, the hard work was already done by the time they saw the call for entries for the company’s first annual Kitchen Design Competition, which was sponsored by Interior Design magazine.

“We were prompted to enter by the fact that we had just finished the kitchen. We just happened to have that particular faucet installed in our own kitchen,” says Christine Conde, owner of the Fort Lauderdale, FL-based design firm Casa Conde, Inc.

Professional designers from around the country, including kitchen and bath designers,
were eligible to enter and the winners were selected by Interior Design editor-in-chief Cindy Allen. She notes, “The winners’ projects clearly demonstrate that good design transforms pedestrian kitchens into rooms
of innovation.”

“I love Starck’s work,” says Cesar, principle designer for Casa Conde. “Starck’s simple approach to design is what makes his work so compelling and so right for what we were trying to do in our kitchen.

“I fell in love with this particular model because of the current trend of commercial-style kitchen faucets in residential spaces [that we wanted to emulate in our personal kitchen]. The faucet’s clean lines, block base and slender control stem meshed perfectly with the contemporary European look we envisioned for our kitchen,” he comments.

The mesh of European design sensibility and an attention to detail in the kitchen project won them first prize in the competition: a six-day Italian vacation to the Villa Toscana Saporita in Tuscany. While there, they were treated to extensive cooking classes and food demonstrations as well as excursions around the scenic Tuscan region.

Faucet-Focused

Badly in need of an update, the kitchen was gutted by the Condes as part of the whole-house remodel of their 1,600-sq.-ft, mid-1960s Fort Lauderdale home. According to the Condes, their redesign reflected the social nature of the role the kitchen plays in their lives.

Knowing best her space and storage concerns, Christine collaborated with Cesar on the kitchen design. “I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so I wanted a modern kitchen that was also functional,” says Christine. “We entertain a lot and I love to cook. I’ve always wanted a commercial faucet in my kitchen.”