Henrybuilt, located in New York and Seattle, designs and manufactures finely crafted furniture and kitchen cabinetry. The company was founded by Scott Hudson in 2001, with the intention to bridge the gap between two extremes. On one end of the spectrum are the best modular European kitchen systems, which offer superior refinement and functional solutions but lack warmth and flexibility. On the other end of the spectrum are the custom cabinetmakers, skilled in woodcraft but lacking the range of manufacturing and product development capability to provide the sophistication of European systems. Henrybuilt caters to the rising trend in consumer attitude that it is better to have fewer things, but better quality things. Increasingly people are buying elegant things and making them important purchases, acquiring with a sense of ownership and longevity. However, fine craft comes with a fine price. And many people with great taste are unable to find a well-designed kitchen product at a mid-range price.

In 2009 Henrybuilt launched Viola Park, a line developed to offer homeowners as complete a kitchen design package as possible at reasonable cost. The approach is similar to the European model, distinctly design-oriented kitchens manufactured in whole and delivered complete, but done on a smaller scale. To this end, Viola Park kitchen systems are made from a standard set of components designed to work in a wide range of situations without customization. Viola Park also deviates from the standard distribution model, utilizing Internet innovations and effectively eliminating the middleman.

A GAP IN THE MARKET

Design-oriented homeowners have few choices for well- made, welldesigned products that fall somewhere between IKEA and custom. “The few options out there are either very small companies that can service only a small market with a limited line, or larger companies that just don’t get it, and are producing the same product they produced in the ’70s and selling it the same way they always have,” says Hudson. “In many cases, product quality in the middle of the market has decreased considerably over the last 30-40 years. Rather than focusing on refining the product and the customer’s experience, most manufacturers have focused on cutting costs and adding “hardware.’”

SIMPLE AND STRAIGHTFORWARD

As the economy heads into recovery, consumers are more specific about what they want and what they really don’t need. Quality becomes more important. Being personally involved becomes more important. Keeping it simple becomes more important. According to Hudson, for these things to happen, distribution models need to shift. “The way kitchen cabinets are distributed in the U.S. is not unlike the way cars are distributed: big manufacturers selling through a network of dealers. There are too many product lines with too little differentiation, all selling at very thin margins and offering little of distinction to the buyer.”

Viola Park does not sell through distribution, only direct via the Internet. The concept is that the customer gets a better product by dealing directly with the designer and maker of the product. Advancing Internet capabilities offer unique opportunities to innovate in the areas of product presentation, decision-support and distribution.

THE BIG PICTURE

One of the goals of Viola Park is to make it possible to arrive at an exceptional overall design with as little effort as possible. “American kitchens tend to be a collage of unrelated bits – counter, lighting, cabinets, backsplash tiles – that only occasionally work together,” says Hudson. “I think that kitchens designed as systems – more unified wholes – are absolutely the future. The way it is done now is a waste of economic resources, not very functional and much more likely to be replaced a few years later.”

By focusing on the whole kitchen system rather than parts, Viola Park is able to control costs, keep the designs simple, predict how the kitchen will turn out and still allow customers to make a personal statement. The design value comes both from the parts (Paperstone countertops, HPL, wood and wood veneers, lacquered surfaces and VGC bamboo over green board, glass doors and powder-coated steel) and the way they are configured. The overall look the components achieve is at once American, contemporary, approachable and refined.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

Part of Viola Park is the idea that it is a very good thing for people to be connected to their homes through designing, planning and building projects to whatever degree they are able. In modern society few people grow up using tools, and even less take an active role in building or modifying their dwellings. Things like building codes, professional certifications and technical knowledge necessary to order materials and operate equipment are prohibitive for the layman. While it is important to use skilled trade professionals who are experts in those fields, some homeowners want to be more than the financier in their home improvement projects. To that end Viola Park has invested a lot of energy into developing a product and website that can support homeowners who enjoy being involved in their improvement projects. Understanding how things work, what they cost and how to manage people working on a project can not only decrease the costs associated with improvements but also make homeowners feel more satisfied with the finished product.

Viola Park’s innovative approach to standardizing a custom product in order to meet the market’s demands for well-designed, well-built kitchen systems is unconventional. However, their business model that combines European modular kitchen systems and Internet technology to bring design-oriented products into a moderate price range just may be the beginning of a revolution in the way people buy kitchens.