An Outdoor Kitchen Blooms in the Rain City

Chris Mordi, Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet

The elements can be hard on outdoor kitchens. Choosing materials that stand up to wind, rain, sun and snow is critical. This kitchen includes equipment made of 304-grade stainless steel. The counters and backsplash feature green granite; the floor is sandblasted concrete. All wood features are built with Ipe or cedar. Photo by Joshua J Phoenix/ Owner HD Estates

The Rain City, better known as Seattle, isn't the first place you think of when considering locations for a spectacular outdoor kitchen. In a city that sees about 150 days of rain each year, you would think homeowners would do most of their cooking indoors. But when their indoor cooking results in smoking up the house, an outdoor kitchen that also served the indoors was the right remedy.

The arbor was constructed of clear cedar, steel and aluminum and will eventually feature a ''ceiling'' of a textured glass inserts called ''rain.'' Sheltering structures over outdoor kitchens are becoming increasingly popular across the country because they provide protection from the elements, allowing the homeowner to use the outdoor kitchen more frequently. Photo by Tristan Brown, Queen Anne Gardens, LLC

The project was fit into a whole-house garden design that was commissioned to beautify a bungalow nestled among a soaring stand of western red cedars near the Pontiac Bay of Lake Washington. Daniel Lowery, APLD, owner of Queen Anne Gardens and the project's designer, says the kitchen had to complement the garden's design aesthetic which featured modern steel forms and ancient basalt columns, as well as neighboring cedars. It also had to endure the area's famous rains.

The project called for a deck and stairway that would connect the kitchen to the home's interior, a full-size outdoor kitchen, a protective arbor, and easy access to the home's gardens and driveway.

A retaining wall and staircase solve three issues in constructing the outdoor kitchen: They level the site's slope at the corner of the house; they create a discreet entry to the garden; and provide a partially enclosed area for the kitchen and privacy for the cooks.

He says the setback from the cedars gave him little space for the garden and even less for the outdoor kitchen. ''We had to shoehorn the kitchen into a usable space. The full-size kitchen was built into a little corner,'' Lowery says.

Because of the space constraints and the need to constantly be inventive to solve challenges, Lowery says this project required more design consultations with the client than he's ever had on other jobs.

To make it a reality, Lowery began with a retaining wall and staircase to solve three issues:

1. Level the site’s slope at the corner of the house;
2. Create a discreet entry to the garden;
3. Provide a partially enclosed area for the kitchen and privacy for the cooks. The back of the kitchen wall proudly faces the street and is finished with 3/8-inch thick steel panels that match other parts the garden’s boundary.

While the pad had to have enough space to accommodate the kitchen, a set of stairs and a deck that would link the outside to the indoors, it also had to be poured in a way that would move Seattle's famous rain off and into the garden areas. Daniel Davis of Seattle-based Inspired Structure served as a subcontractor on the project.

Once the concrete cured, it left contractors with even less space in which to work. In a typical outdoor kitchen installation, the equipment goes in after all other structural elements and utilities have been put in. With this project, it was the exact opposite. The kitchen equipment, still in its shipping crates had to be hoisted onto the pad with a forklift. Lowery says they stayed in their crates until perimeter walls and utilities could
be installed.

A heavy foundation and retaining wall provide the level surface, space and support for the outdoor kitchen's design elements, utilities and cooking equipment.

In creating the deck and stairs, Lowery chose ipe wood because of its longevity, warm feel and ability to withstand the elements. ''Ipe cuts like metal,'' says Davis. ''It was very hard on the tools.'' He adds that each piece of wood was secured with screws. But before the screws could go in, a hole had to be drilled so the fasteners actually made it through the wood. The holes were also counter sunk so that each screw could be concealed.

Lowery says working with the wood was like building a boat. ''It was so well crafted, it was like a cross between a fine wood boat and cabinetry,'' he says.

Besides the challenge of working around still-crated outdoor cooking equipment and using wood that is almost as hard as concrete, the team had to install an arbor over the kitchen to protect the cook from the elements. Because of the site's tight space, the arbor had to be made off site and delivered in pieces. All holes were drilled off site, as well as the powder coating of the structure's metal pieces. Davis says that because of the many-faceted assembly process, he predicted that some of the powder coating would fall of the metal pieces as they were being joined together. Prior to installation, he ensured that he had a custom-colored paint mixed and on site.

A steel and ipe gate provides the space's final enclosure. The structure above the gate is the back wall of the outdoor kitchen. All of the utilities that serve the outdoor kitchen are hidden within the wall. An interior view of the outdoor kitchen's back wall reveals how one of the utility lines was hidden within. Note how the line does not run through the support posts, which makes it easier to access in case a future repair is needed. Photos by Tristan Brown, Queen Anne Gardens, LLC

''We had to measure things 3-5 times. It had to go in right, it had to be perfect. We really massaged the space,'' says Lowery.

One of the most important challenges was installing the kitchen equipment in a way that overcame the slant of the concrete pad. This was important because if the appliances were not at the same height, it meant the countertops would not be level. Davis says he used leftover Ipe blocks to shim up the cabinets and the grill. To hide these ''cheats,'' Davis custom cut Ipe to create toe kicks that not only covered the legs of the appliances but also tied the entire kitchen together from floor to ceiling.

In a space that is as highly customized as this, the last thing you want to worry about is installing the kitchen equipment,'' says Russ Faulk, vice president of product development for Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet. ''You want to find a supplier that can provide you with products that are a uniform depth and height. But you want appliances that have feet that feature a good degree of vertical adjustability. This gives you the ability to adjust to uneven floor surfaces while keeping the tops level.''

Lowery adds that he and the client chose Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet products for their ability to withstand the elements. ''Everyone else's grills just rust like mad out here,'' he says. He says the homeowners have a nautical background and are familiar with the durability of teak and ipe and the way they withstand the elements and salt spray.