Outdoor kitchen design built for Cornish coastal weather, near Truro

Carcases are specified for permanent outdoor use, with attention to how the material behaves at cut edges and fixing points, since that is where water enters first. Fasteners, hinges, runners and handles are specified by corrosion resistance appropriate to the distance from the coast: a garden two miles inland and a clifftop terrace are not the same environment, and using one specification for both guarantees failure in the second.

Fronts and finishes are chosen for UV stability and cleanability as well as appearance, because a finish that chalks or fades looks worse than one that was never intended to match the indoor kitchen exactly. Where a client wants continuity with the interior, we coordinate tone and handle style rather than pretending an indoor door will survive outside.

Worktop choice outdoors is governed by staining, thermal movement, frost and UV, not by pattern. Porcelain and dense engineered surfaces perform well; some natural stones are porous enough to stain permanently from oil and wine; timber can be used where the client accepts an annual maintenance cycle and understands it will silver.

Overhangs, edge profiles and support are detailed for outdoor loading, and joints are positioned so water cannot sit in them. Worktops are templated after cabinetry is installed, exactly as they are indoors, because a garden wall is rarely as straight as the drawing suggests.

Fuel choice changes the design. Gas requires clearances, ventilation and safe supply routing; charcoal and wood need more space, heat clearance to adjacent materials and somewhere to deal safely with ash; electric induction and plancha units need protected power and shelter from driven rain. Ceramic and pizza ovens add weight, which the base has to carry.

Refrigeration must be rated for outdoor use: an indoor undercounter fridge will fail in a cold, damp garden. Extraction is only useful where the kitchen sits under a canopy or structure; in open air, position relative to prevailing wind does the work instead, which is why orientation is recorded at survey.

Partial shelter transforms how much an outdoor kitchen is used in Cornwall. A canopy, pergola, garden room overhang or recessed alcove keeps preparation dry and extends the season considerably, and it also reduces the weather load on cabinetry and appliances.

Groundwork is part of the specification: a level, drained base capable of carrying the weight of masonry, ovens and worktops, with falls running away from the house and duct routes set for services. Where landscapers or builders are already engaged, we coordinate the requirements with them rather than working around finished hard landscaping.

Outdoor schemes usually take one of these forms.

In private gardens the design follows how the household entertains: numbers, seating position, whether cooking is the event or a side activity, and how much of the year the space is used.

For hospitality and commercial contractors, durability, cleanability and continuous use drive specification, along with documentation to support handover and maintenance.

The studio is at Cornelly House, School Hill, Shortlanesend, just outside Truro, and our Truro showroom opens in 2027. Until then, schemes are presented from the Winner 3D model with physical samples of surfaces and finishes.

We design and install outdoor kitchens across Cornwall and Devon, and for clients in London and the Home Counties with Cornish property, where The Complete Service adds project management, a foreman on the ground and weekly Google Meet progress updates: useful when groundwork, landscaping and installation have to be sequenced without you present.