Martin Moore

When design engineer Martin Moore and his wife Barbara returned to England in 1975 after travelling around the world, they bought a Victorian house in need of total renovation. Martin was passionate about designing and making much of the furniture himself and it was this that led the couple to set up one of England’s first handmade kitchen companies. They started off using reclaimed timbers but soon began to develop their own hallmark style of classic, timeless kitchens, inspired by the symmetry found in the work of English Renaissance architect, Inigo Jones. Refined and elegant, these kitchens are as well suited to Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian homes as they are to contemporary settings.

Forty-four years later, Martin Moore remains a family-run business, with Richard and Michael Moore working alongside their parents at the helm. Today, Martin Moore undertakes commissions, not just for kitchens, but for projects throughout the home, in both the UK and Europe. All furniture is customdesigned and handmade to order at the company’s Yorkshire workshops.

Martin Moore combines its focus on craftsmanship with originality and integrity of design, an approach exemplifed by the just-launched New Deco kitchen, inspired by the architects and designers of the 1930s. While acknowledging these historical roots, everything else about the New Deco concept is innovative, from the ‘floating’ freestanding pieces to the shadow lines in the cabinetry and the decorative use of luxurious materials, including marble, limestone, metallics and timber veneers. Gradually being rolled out across Martin Moore’s eight UK locations, the New Deco kitchen has just been installed at the Esher showroom.

Every Martin Moore commission is designed and built as a one-off and the company never creates the same kitchen twice – as evidenced by two vastly different, recent projects. The first is an environmentally sensitive extension to a Grade II*-listed, 14 th - century cloth hall in Kent. The client wanted the kitchen to be ultra-modern, but also to honour the heritage of the site. This made natural oak a must for much of the cabinetry, paired with gleaming chrome door inlays and handles. Hand-painted cabinets and an industrial-style bank of stainless steel appliances act as visual counterweights to the timber, while decorative elements – such as the ‘wild quartz’ worktops, marble chandeliers and carbon fibre bar stools – take centre stage.

The second project is a one-bedroom apartment in a West London Victorian terrace. The challenge here was to create a chic but highly functional kitchen within a small footprint, taking into account soaring ceilings and fine period detailing. In response, Martin Moore designed a multipurpose island and tall cupboards with glazed fronts (to prevent them overpowering the room), concealed appliances and integrated lighting.

In a world of mass production, Martin Moore is uniquely defined by individuality, outstanding craftsmanship and an extraordinary level of customer service.