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Buckinghamshire / Huf Haus / Canaletto Walnut
The Glass
House
Residential — Bespoke Joinery
This is a Huf Haus in Buckinghamshire — post-and-beam construction, triple-glazed glass walls, and an existing Poliform kitchen that set the standard for anything new. The house was one of the largest Huf Haus builds in Europe when it was first constructed. The kitchen already had Canaletto walnut fronts, integrated handles and smoked glass display cabinets: a benchmark that any new joinery would need to meet without drawing attention to itself.
Our commission was to produce a kitchen joinery bar unit and a run of open consoles to read as part of the original Poliform installation rather than additions to it. The design language was established. What remained was the material and execution problem: matching the Canaletto walnut finish precisely and building pieces to the same standard as the cabinetry alongside them.
The commission was developed through Kaoru Ishikawa and Jeff Taylor. Ishikawa's approach to interior design is about balance and restraint — spaces that function quietly and hold nothing out of proportion. That philosophy suits the Huf Haus format: an architecture defined by geometry and daylight, where anything assertive creates a problem.
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Canaletto walnut is warm American walnut with a bleached character — the grain reads calm and linear, not busy. Matching it required more than selecting a similar species. Our makers reviewed veneer samples in the actual light conditions of the building before committing, not in the workshop. The Poliform kitchen sets a precise standard: consistent grain direction, soft-close mechanisms, the same restraint in every detail. The new pieces had to meet that standard without the advantage of being factory-original.
The bar unit and consoles were constructed on moisture-resistant MDF substrate with veneer faces and a matt lacquer protection coat — the same durability approach as the Poliform originals. Production combined factory build with on-site installation, working within the post-and-beam geometry of the Huf Haus structure. Every dimension was confirmed against the existing kitchen before cutting began. The installation team worked directly with the clients to ensure sightlines were maintained and the new pieces occupied their space as though they had always been there.
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The measure of this project is whether a visitor to the kitchen can identify where the original Poliform installation ends and the new joinery begins. The intention was that they cannot. Ishikawa's design sensibility is not about statement pieces — it is about spaces that function without effort and hold nothing in excess. New joinery in that context has one job: to belong. The bar unit and consoles complete the kitchen rather than extend it.