We sit down with four Australian designers to explore their choice of first-class ovens and cookers available at Winning Appliances.
Crafting a kitchen that balances form with functionality is no easy feat, and the oven’s influence on a kitchen’s layout and design should not be underestimated. This insider’s guide explores the benefits behind popular premium oven types – single, pyrolytic, combi-steam and combi-microwave, and freestanding – through case study kitchens by Australian designers.
Each designer shares their design intent and how the choice of oven was central to meeting their client’s kitchen brief. The cross-section of ovens and freestanding cookers we’ve handpicked are retailed through Winning Appliances and remain firm favourites among the high-end design community.
In partnership with Winning Appliances
Williamstown Residence Kitchen by Lucy Bock Design Studio | Photography by Derek Swalwell
Single Ovens
Williamstown Residence by Lucy Bock Design is a reimagining of an existing heritage interior and a new, modern extension that allows for an open and connected way of family living.
At the heart of this home lies the kitchen’s white, stone-clad island and bench, which offers a serene, sculptural centrepiece. Fusing seamlessly into the cabinetry and finishes, Lucy specified integrated appliances such as a Smeg 90cm Classic Pyrolytic oven in a timeless stainless-steel finish. “This kitchen was designed for a young family – the large 90cm oven offered flexibility to cook various dishes en mass,” designer Lucy Bock says. “The beautiful stainless steel finish and refined detailing of the handrail and knobs sit sensitively within the kitchen design. The oven was chosen to anchor the 90cm induction cooktop above,” she adds.
Old Oaks Kitchen by Carole Whiting Interiors + Design | Photography by Matthew Walsh
Pyrolytic Ovens
The team behind Carole Whiting Interiors + Design centred the entire staged renovation of Old Oaks home around its communal kitchen space. “The family that lives here loves to cook, and the V-ZUG ovens provide a chef-level quality of cooking while being super easy to operate,” Carole says. “We located them in their own space on the side of the joinery where the mirrored surface can reflect the light.”
The V-ZUG Combi-Steam and Combair SLP Ovens from Winning Appliances inform an important element of this kitchen and are central to the family’s shared values of preparing and cooking food together. Stacked on a side wall, close to the butler’s pantry, the Swiss-designed V-ZUG Combi-Steam and Combair pyrolytic ovens offer this modern family a user-friendly duo without sacrificing performance. “The homeowners wanted to provide meals for their family and for entertaining. This often means they might need to cook a protein in one oven while a dessert is in the other – or they require two dishes to cook simultaneously at different temperatures or using the steam functionality,” Carole explains. Functionally, a pyrolytic oven is self-cleaning and therefore presents the option to save time and effort while minimising the need for cleaning chemicals by turning build-up into ash that can be easily wiped away.
Glen Iris House by Luke Fry Architecture & Interiors| Photography by Derek Swalwell
Combi-Steam and Combi-Microwave
Given creative reign to modernise a period home in Melbourne’s Glen Iris postcode, Luke Fry Architecture & Interiors breathed new life into this home by infusing a contemporary edge to this spacious kitchen designed with family gatherings in mind. Luke Fry and his team crafted an intelligent and technologically savvy kitchen solution that would enable the homeowners to entertain and feed their family with ease.
An AEG combi steam and combi microwave oven make a formidable pairing for the retired client and their extended family, where versatility and cooking at the click of a button yield perfect cooking results. “When it comes to kitchens we organise for our clients to have a detailed tour of the Winning Appliances showroom to go through all of the products available,” Luke says. “It’s such a personal decision and fundamental to the design of the kitchen that we know what’s being included before starting to design.”
Both a combi Steam and combi microwave oven use the unique ‘steamify’ function to automate cooking to ensure an optimal amount of steam preserves nutrients whilst bringing out the flavours and textures of food, making it a healthy oven option. Concealed below the statement green stone bench, these modern AEG appliances from Winning Appliances bring functionality and form to this elegant and hardworking family kitchen.
St Kilda House by Melanie Beynon | Photography by Sharyn Cairns
Freestanding Ovens
Melanie Beynon Architecture & Design brought a client’s love of the colour blue and a Parisian aesthetic to this family terrace redesign. Using a careful mix of craftsmanship and classical features, Melanie has expertly modernised this functional family kitchen while respecting the home’s 19th-century bones.
Injecting a modern spin on a traditional Parisian design, Melanie specified a premium, Italian-made ILVE freestanding cooker in a custom-blue colourway. A showstopping oven made for avid cooks and entertainers, an ILVE Freestanding oven offers homeowners technology and function combined with a European charm that aligns best with the aesthetics of the European-inspired kitchen. A piece de resistance for those wanting to create a theatrical space, the freestanding oven presents a sophisticated nod to nostalgia. Synonymous with quality and sophistication, this custom blue ILVE Freestanding Cooker works harmoniously in this kitchen scheme’s shaker style cabinetry, traditional tapware, dark chevron flooring and ornate cabinet handles which further instil a sense of European elegance.
