Villa Interno
Villa Interno is a family business founded by Filip Van Laeken. What began with the sale of furniture quickly grew into the creation of elaborate custom-made products. Villa Interno is your ideal partner for kitchens, made-to-measure work and furniture of the very highest standard. The familial character of the company is reflected in the personal advice and individual approach to each project. The ambition is always to create unparalleled interiors with the right atmosphere to make each house a real home
Mission & Vision
The ambition is and always has been to create high-level custom kitchens that excel through their high quality craftsmanship, their refined class, their sophisticated finishes and the premium quality of the materials used. From pedestal to worktop, from the appliances to the cabinets and fronts. With attention to lasting beauty and an eye for the style of your home
Intro
In a society where identity and ergonomics are central, people strive to optimize use. This also applies to traditional handles. Here, too, there is a threshold that unfolds. By responding to this, a design is created that offers added value in terms of identity and ergonomics for the user and his environment.
Focus
In this project, the focus is placed on the search for integrating exclusive handles inside a high-end kitchen interior. In doing so, a way is sought for integrating recessed and semi-recessed handles that is aesthetically and ergonomically pleasing. Material selection and production techniques are of great importance to match the values and standards of Villa Interno.
Challenge
Visiting various kitchen builders has brought some important insights. In recent years, there have been several trends regarding handles. In contemporary kitchens, push pull is often used and surfacemounted handles are more common. However, more exclusive kitchens use external handles made from quality materials. Here it is important to focus on appliances such as the refrigerator and dishwasher where ergonomics comes first. At Villa Interno there is no fixed brand DNA yet, which makes it a challenge to realize one’s own style.
Sketching
In consultation with the client, we searched for the right design. On the basis of sketches and prototypes we come to an ideal solution. This way we can easily communicate with the customer. After the sketches we quickly move on to prototypes to better represent the physical form.
Prototyping
Due to the exclusive market segment, production numbers remain quite low. This creates some limitations in terms of choice of materials and production techniques. Through research, we have found out which materials are suitable. It is always important to maintain a qualitative appearance.
Material
From research into different material types, there are some materials that are preferred in terms of hygiene and machinability. The percieved value remains important here.
Corian/Aluminium
Corian is a very strong material that can be glued seamlessly. In addition, the material is easy to maintain and hygienic. Corian is available in many different colors.
Aluminum is a very light material that is easy to work with. In addition, it is also corrosion resistant and has an anti-bacterial effect
Revolving doors
For the revolving doors, the challenge is to create sufficient grip with a recessed handle. The choice was made to work with a symmetrical layout that seamlessly connects two revolving doors. On the back, there is thin layer of veneer that continues behind the handle
Refrigerator
For the surface-mounted handles, the emphasis is on the good grip for appliances such as refrigerator as dishwasher. By means of milling a slot in the handle, it can be partially recessed into the front.
Drawer & Dishwasher
For the drawers, a recessed handle was chosen. These are fully recessed and come flush with the corpus of the cabinet. The handle flows nicely with the rest of the drawer, maintaining the clean line.
