AWDS Showroom · Caledon, OntarioWhite Oak Framed Inset Cabinetry
The Atelier is AWDS’s showroom kitchen, designed and built as a working expression of our approach to framed inset cabinetry.
White oak perimeter cabinetry begins with solid-wood face frames and establishes the natural material palette of the room. Against it, a painted furniture-style island creates contrast, while a custom hutch, solid-wood plate rack and Venetian plaster range hood introduce details more closely associated with furniture making than conventional fitted cabinetry.
Because this is our own showroom, the design gave us an opportunity to bring together construction, materials and details we believe are worth experiencing in person.
A large coffee bar and pantry is integrated into the white oak cabinetry, with custom inserts developed around the way the space is used.
Elsewhere, produce storage was designed and fabricated in-house, combining purpose-built drawers with brass metal detailing. These aren’t accessories selected from a catalogue and added afterward. They were developed as part of the cabinetry itself.
The Atelier was designed to demonstrate that the inside of custom cabinetry deserves the same consideration as the exterior.
Several of the room’s defining elements were produced specifically for the display.
The solid-wood plate rack was made as part of the cabinetry. The hutch incorporates recessed lighting into a furniture-like composition. The range hood was fabricated and finished with Venetian plaster in-house by AWDS, allowing its form and finish to be developed alongside the cabinetry rather than treated as a separate decorative element.
That ability to make rather than simply specify is an important part of what The Atelier represents.
The Atelier isn’t simply a backdrop for photographs. It’s here so clients can see framed inset construction up close, feel how the cabinetry operates, examine the reveals and face frames, open the coffee bar and storage, and see the difference between details that can be difficult to understand from a rendering or sample door.
It’s our opportunity to show the work rather than just describe it.
