Crystal Palace worktops
The kitchens we meet in Crystal Palace
The questions that decide stone worktop supply and fitting in Crystal Palace are dull ones about doorways, corners and what the floor is doing, and they are asked early for good reason. Big subdivided villas mean unusual kitchen shapes: high ceilings, tall sash windows down to worktop height and runs that stop short because of a chimney breast or a boxed-in riser. Whole-house owners on the terraces mostly go for a side-return kitchen with a long island. None of that has to be decided before you get a price. It is what the survey is for.
These are the multi-piece jobs, where vein direction across a join matters as much as the join itself. Finish counts as much as colour once the light in a room is poor, because a polish hands every reflection back to you and a honed face quietly absorbs them. Two kitchens of one size can differ by double on the stone alone.
There is a door to the garden, a door to the hall and often a door to a utility, so the perimeter run is interrupted three times. There is usually an island, and the island takes the liveliest part of the stone while the perimeter is allowed to stay quiet, which is a decision made at the slab rather than on paper. A galley nests efficiently and frees money for better stone.
The fabric of the place is large Victorian villa, villa converted to flats, Victorian terrace and 1930s mansion block. Knowing which one it is before we arrive is half the survey done.
