Trendy Sinks

By Andrew Pike, Andrew Pike Interiors

(NC)—While appliances, cabinetry and countertop materials have tended to drive overall kitchen design in past years, there's a new European product that may be leading the latest kitchen look.

German sink manufacturer, Blanco, has just introduced a new style of kitchen sink to the North American market that is sure to become the next big influence on kitchen design. Called MicroEdge (or Finotop in Europe where it was launched a year earlier) the company first unveiled the new concept last fall to a select and receptive audience of designers, media and customers in downtown Toronto. The private event, inspired by the turn-of-the-century Hollywood film, the Illusionist, drew a celebrity audience of more than 400 who were treated to an evening of entertainment and illusion. When the new design was finally introduced, the link between illusion and the new MicroEdge became clear.

Hailed by Blanco as the first breakthrough in kitchen sink technology in more than a decade, the innovative MicroEdge stainless steel sink design creates the illusion of a flushmount sink. A significant technical and artistic achievement, MicroEdge sinks feature a unique flat-rim design that creates a sleek and flawless flush-to-the-counter look. Precision-engineered, ultrafine 1.0 to 1.25 mm sink rims are superbly finished and a special clamping system ensures a tight, flat fit to the countertop.

Although the sinks can be flushmounted if so desired, the beauty of the design is that you can avoid the risks and cost of true flushmount installation and still achieve the aesthetic results. Flushmount sinks require a professional fabricator to cut a recessed inset into a stone countertop. The sink rim sits on this inset with the result that sink rim and counter are flush to one another. It's an elegant look long appreciated by designers, but it has never taken hold in North America as it's almost impossible to achieve a perfectly clean or even edge. While flushmount sinks offer instant sophistication, I have always been hesitant to recommend them to my clients because of the risk of a messy edge. MicroEdge solves this problem, creating the illusion of a flushmount using traditional topmount installation techniques.

MicroEdge sinks are also the ideal retrofit—easily replacing an existing sink and creating an instant high-end look without having to change an existing countertop. For the low cost of the service call to remove an existing sink, recut the hole and install a MicroEdge, a high-end look can be quickly achieved. The sinks are also easy to install onto virtually any countertop material, including stone, laminate, butcherblock or re-fitted furniture.

As a designer, I am always looking for the next new design trend. Undermount sinks have been around for a long time and have become the default choice for homeowners and homebuilders. MicroEdge is the first real innovation since the undermount sink. I believe that MicroEdge will become the next strong trend for contemporary, high-end kitchens. (www.microedge.ca)