CIRCULAR WONDER Who would have guessed that the first U.S. installation of Acropolis, the cutting-edge circular kitchen designed for Snaidero by Paolo Pininfarina, would be in a private community nestled around a pond in the heart of the Midwest? Winner of the Good Design award from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, the Acropolis is the focal point of this remodeled 11,000-plus-square-foot luxury residence in Edina, Minn., an affluent Twin Cities suburb.
According to Todd Huschka, president of Studio Snaidero Wisconsin, in Madison, Wis., the client was looking for something “innovative and refreshing.”
Heather Ahrens, director of sales and design and senior designer at the studio, suggested combining the Acropolis with the Ola cabinet line in blue, also designed by Paolo Pininfarina for Snaidero. “Architecturally, it is a linear house — very square — and it was screaming for a deviation in the sense of shape and form,” she says. “Injecting a circle into the middle of the space creates wonderful energy and movement for the center of the room.”
The kitchen, which has 14-foot-high ceilings, is open to the adjacent breakfast and lounge areas. “The Acropolis floats in the center of the space,” Ahrens says. “And the graceful curves of the two Ola wall units seem to dance around the perimeter of what truly is a sculptural masterpiece.”
The Acropolis is the main food preparation and cooking area. The circle includes three zones: a double-bowl sink in the center, a cooktop to its left, and a large prep area, with storage, on the right. The LED task lighting in the overhead “halo” mimics the shape of the circular base.
This wide circular lighting pelmet not only balances the design, but provides lighting in key areas. The open shelving that supports the pelmet offers more storage and is intentionally positioned on either side of the entrance at the back of the circular workspace, so interaction with other people in the room adjacent to the front of the work circle is easy to maintain.
The circular Acropolis is intended to be paired with a wall unit that would house the refrigerator/freezer, oven, dishwasher, and storage. The curving profiles of the two Ola wall units make them an ideal accompaniment to the Acropolis. The Ola unit directly behind the Acropolis circle includes a 36-inch wide refrigerator/freezer, two convection ovens, and pantry storage.
The second Ola unit — to the far left of the Acropolis and near the lounge — serves as the breakfast bar and features a coffee system, a dishwasher, a gas cooktop, and a second sink. There’s also a tall, slim, 24-inch-wide refrigerator/freezer tucked into the cabinetry at the far end. Storage space and halogen lighting above the open display shelves add to the unit’s functionality.
An island in front of this wall unit provides additional work space or an eating area when chairs are added. There is also a butler’s pantry located in a separate area behind the wall unit, for storing additional groceries.
The airiness of the space is enhanced by cream-colored 24-by-24-inch Italian marble floor tiles, as well as windows that offer a view of the pond and the willow trees on its banks.