Work on optimising kitchen layouts was begun in the 1920s by Lillian Moller Gilbreth, an industrial psychologist and engineer, in partnership with the Brooklyn Borough Gas Company. Gilbreth’s Kitchen Practical was unveiled in 1929 at a Women’s Exposition based on Gilbreth’s research on motion savings. Initially called ‘circular routing’, it was further developed by Cornell University in the 1950s and came to be called the kitchen work triangle.
The kitchen work triangle is a concept used to determine efficient kitchen layouts that are both aesthetic and functional. The primary tasks in a kitchen are carried out between the cooktop, sink and fridge. These three points, and the imaginary lines between them, make up the kitchen work triangle. The idea is that when these three elements are in close (but not too close) proximity to one another, the kitchen will be easy and efficient to use, cutting down on wasted steps.
The work triangle is still alive and valid to use in today’s designs. However, our kitchens have changed a great deal since 1929. Today there are many more people accessing and working in the kitchen at one time, we have more and varied appliances, and the kitchen is often part of open plan living and dining.
Through extensive research, user observation and consultation, Blum has integrated and expanded the key learnings of the work triangle and developed a more contemporary approach to planning kitchen layouts called Dynamic Space®.
Dynamic Space® divides the kitchen into 5 work zones to create smooth workflows and can be adapted to any kitchen layout.
In our KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL workshop we demonstrate and share the tools to use Dynamic Space® in your kitchen build or renovation.
With thanks to Wikipedia