Richard
"The bench itself, given that it's that recycled brick and concrete, it's changing all the
time because the more you use it then there's more marks coming into it. It is a sort of
living element within the kitchen, constantly sort of changing."
Alexia
"In a family sense it's definitely created and enabled a different way of us connecting with
one
another in the family, like with the kids sitting there, casually eating something. It's not
a closed off
space. It's an open space and it's less formal than the dining table, so definitely I would
say it has
changed that connection in a better way for sure."
Richard
"It was quite rare, certainly as a family we would never have sat at that [old] bench to
have dinner.
We might have stood around it and picked at things, but we wouldn't sit down at it. Whereas
with
this one, it's quite common for us to be sitting around the bench eating and participating
in a
family meal."
Alexia
"With the island bench, the way it's set up, it was such a brilliant design. One end is
closed off with
storage and that's where I prepare, and then the open end, which is cantilevered—you're
incorporating that social aspect. I'm a part of whatever is going on. It doesn't close me
off. It's
definitely made it more of a communal feeling. Everyone's a part of it."
Alexia
"I think what I do like is it means we sit for our family meals up at the bench. There's
less formality to the dinner because, with the boys in particular, teenagers aren't great at
talking, but there's something about sitting up in a slightly more casual sort of way in the
kitchen."