Ways to Use Concrete in the Kitchen

Kitchen cabinets in Japanese elm are topped with Calacatta marble and wraparound concrete for the island.

The custom kitchen cabinets sit on legs for easy sweeping underneath. They’re topped with white Corian counters and paired with sleek Brodware fixtures.

By eliminating walls and incorporating a series of interior gardens, architect José Roberto Paredes creates an eclectic and inspired El Salvador beach house. In the kitchen, rough-hewn materials like a eucalyptus-log-and-thatch roof offset the monolithic concrete island and glossy subway tile backsplash. Claudia & Harry Washington built the vivid wooden sliding walls, which are inspired by the palm leaves that change color and create diagonal patterns in trees near the house. The bar stools were a street market discovery.

Elsewhere, the blocks accommodate other uses, like support for a built-in table and benches in the kitchen and a rooftop observatory (next slide) for watching the sun set over the Ilaló volcano.