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Homebirds
flock to city centre
Kitchen research reveals young city dwellers prefer cooking
to clubbing
With figures just published confirming that the vast majority
of city dwellers are young, single professionals, kitchen
trend research by award-winning kitchen design specialist
Stuart Frazer Contracts provides a surprising insight into
the lifestyles of this thriving demographic.
A study by the Institute for Public Policy Research's Centre
for Cities published recently reported population increases
of up to 300% in some UK cities. Furthermore, it was found
that 28% of this group falls within the 20- to 24-years-old
age bracket, compared to just 6% nationally.
Whilst this combination of youth, wealth and instantly accessible
nightlife would suggest a lifestyle in which home is no more
than somewhere to get your head down, ongoing research by
Stuart Frazer Contracts paints a very different picture. Based
on consumer preferences for kitchen design, layout and functionality,
it seems that today’s young-free-and-singles are balancing
the big nights with the quiet nights in.
Despite city centre apartments being much smaller than their
suburban, family home, the kitchens installed in both types
of development have roughly the same value, suggesting that
city centre dwellers put more emphasis on the kitchen when
choosing a home than a suburban family. Statistics gathered
by Stuart Frazer Contracts between 2003 and 2005, show that
kitchens in suburban properties worth over £800k have
an average cost equivalent to 5% of the total value of the
property. Surprisingly, in city centre properties within the
same price bracket, the value of the kitchen is exactly the
same, despite being much smaller.
“Our findings may seem surprising, but we research our
markets thoroughly in order to design kitchens that complement
both the functional and aspirational aspects of a buyer’s
lifestyle.” said Belinda Sewell, Director at Stuart
Frazer Contracts. “We’ve found that the affluent,
young city dwellers that have flocked into the city centres
over the last decade actually spend a lot of time at home.
They’re are as likely to stay in cooking as go out clubbing
and we’ve been designing our kitchens to reflect this.”A
range of cultural factors have emerged over the last decade
that have increased the gravitational pull of the home as
a social arena, giving birth to a new species of homebird
for whom ‘staying in is the new going out’. Following
massive technological developments in home entertainment and
a Jamie Oliver inspired passion for good food-stripped down,
‘staying in’ has been transformed into an enlightened
lifestyle choice.
“Entertaining now plays a large part of city life,”
continued Belinda “And open plan layouts allow the social
aspect of cooking and preparation to become an integral part
of the experience. As city dwellers tend to shop for groceries
much more frequently their storage requirements are different
to those families living in larger properties in the suburbs.
They are more likely to buy fresh food than frozen, ruling
out the need for full-sized freezers. When it comes to the
ice box, the ready meals and bulk pack frozen foods have given
way to the luxury ice cream and vodka.”
The same research also provides a revealing insight into life
out in the suburbs. Whilst the demographic here is unsurprisingly
older, more settled and family orientated, kitchen trends
are moving further and further away from the traditional English
cottage. Whilst slick, minimal design schemes and integrated
technology rose to the fore during the nineties and the early
part of the present decade, the Stuart Frazer Contracts research
shows that, in suburb and city alike, the trend is shifting
towards an unlikely marriage of technology and nature.
“In some of our recent developments our inspiration
has been to bring the outdoors in,” Belinda explains.
“Home buyers have embraced the massive functional and
lifestyle benefits of integrated technologies such as coffee
machines, TVs and even computers, but they are very environmentally
aware and are now seeking authenticity and a more earthy,
natural feel.
“As we move into the future, green living is set to
become a strong influence on the direction kitchen design
takes. We’ve recently completed a design spec incorporating
multiple waste bins for easy separation of rubbish and natural
sustainable materials with used colour schemes based on tones
and textures found in the natural environment.”
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