Four outdoor kitchens, photographed where they stand
Not studio shots, and not renders. These are customer installations taken by the owners once the kitchen was in use — paving, planting, weather and all.
A project gallery is only worth reading if you can tell what the site demanded and what the cabinet had to become to suit it. So each case below starts with the constraint, not the photograph. If you are trying to work out whether a stainless kitchen looks like a kitchen or looks like a locker room, four photographs at eye level answer that faster than any specification sheet.
The short answer
Four sites, and not one of them needed a different cabinet — they needed a different detail.
The same ten modules appear in all four kitchens on this page. What changes is the layout they are arranged into, the finish on the front, the benchtop above them, and — in one case — the fact that the kitchen is built into masonry rather than standing against it. Nobody had to invent a new cabinet for a rooftop. Somebody had to lift the bottom edge of the door clear of the deck so it would not sit in water.
Steel is grade 304 as standard, with 316 available where the site is coastal, poolside, or cleaned commercially. The carcass is 0.45 mm stainless on both faces over an aluminium honeycomb core, 18 mm finished; doors and drawer faces are 20 mm. Every module is 900 mm high and 656 mm deep, in twelve modules from 400 mm to 1182 mm, standing on levelling castors and bolted to its neighbour.
Case 01 · Private garden
The corner does the work: sink on the return, grill on the long run
The shortest useful description of this kitchen is that it is an L. The long run sits against the house. A short return comes forward at the left-hand end and carries the sink. That one move is why the tap has a wall behind it, why the grill faces the garden instead of the wall, and why whoever is cooking is not standing with their back to the guests.
Above the plinth it is the standard modular system. The grill is a unit dropped into a cut-out in the benchtop; the side burner to its right is a second unit; the sink is a third. Because the stone top runs continuously over all of them, the joints land in the shadow line under the benchtop rather than as a seam across a door face. That is the difference between a run of cabinets and a fitted kitchen, and it costs nothing extra — it is a decision about where the modules stop.
- SiteLevel garden with one building wall behind. No overhead cover, so the door faces take rain directly rather than shedding it off a roof.
- LayoutL-shape. Long run along the house, short return forward carrying the sink.
- FinishSpace grey flat panel fronts, with a recessed black plinth covering the castors.
- TopWhite stone, continuous over grill, burner and sink.
- SolvedThe tap needed a wall. Putting the sink on the return gave it one without turning the grill away from the view.
Case 02 · Rooftop terrace
A parapet, a prevailing wind, and nowhere to hide
This is the case that narrows the material choice fastest. On a terrace with a parapet and no roof, rain does not fall on the kitchen — it arrives at an angle and hits the front face. Water then collects in the reveal at the bottom of a door, which is precisely where a panelled cabinet fails first: the core wicks, swells, and pushes the panel apart along the bottom edge.
There is a second condition here that a ground-floor kitchen never sees. The deck is composite plank with gaps between boards, so after heavy rain there is standing water underneath and splash coming back up through the deck. The answer is not a coating. It is a detail: the plinth is set back, the castors sit behind it, and the bottom edge of the door stops above the water line instead of resting on the deck. You cannot see any of that in the photograph, which is exactly why it is worth describing.
- SiteOpen terrace over a composite deck. Parapet on one side, open to wind on the other three.
- LayoutStraight run, fitted end to end along the parapet return.
- FinishDark wood-grain front. The carcass behind it is still 304 — the grain is a finish, not a different material.
- TopCream quartz with a stainless undermount sink and a single-lever mixer.
- SolvedNothing sits on the deck. Recessed plinth and lifted door bottoms keep the run clear of standing water and deck splash.
Case 03 · Walled courtyard
Sheltered on three sides, and still specified as an outdoor kitchen
A walled courtyard is the deceptive one. It feels protected — no wind, sun for part of the day, a roof over one end — and the temptation is to treat it as an indoor kitchen that happens to be outside. It is not. The wall behind the run holds moisture for days after rain, the paving throws splash back onto the door faces, and a courtyard enclosed on three sides dries more slowly than an open terrace receiving the same rainfall.
The consequence is that a courtyard actually demands more of the cabinet than an exposed site, because an exposed site at least dries. Both faces of every panel here are stainless for that reason: the back of the carcass is sitting against a damp wall for most of the year, and the inside of a closed cabinet has to survive the same humidity as the outside. A single-sided panel would fail from the back, where nobody looks until the front goes out of shape.
- SiteWalled courtyard, part-covered, paving on the open side. Slow to dry.
- LayoutStraight run along one wall: sink at the end, grill centred, work surface continuous between them.
- FinishDark wood-grain fronts against a white marble-pattern benchtop.
- DetailTap set at the back of the top so the spout reaches the bowl without a raised, water-trapping base.
- SolvedA long low run holds one height of 900 mm the whole way, so the grill fascia sits flush with the doors instead of stepping out.
Case 04 · Masonry surround
Built into a surround, which is the hardest detail to get right
This is the case where a modular cabinet has to behave like a fitted one. The surround is blockwork with stone cladding and the kitchen sits inside the opening, so the width of the run is set by the masonry rather than chosen from a list. The surround can be built first, before the cabinets arrive — the opening is set to module dimensions, the blockwork cures, and the kitchen goes in afterwards.
What makes that work is that every module is independent. Each one carries its own load, levels on its own castors, and is bolted to its neighbour only once it is standing true. So the run can end against a wall that is not square without somebody cutting a filler panel on site — the last module takes up the difference on its own adjusters. On a project with an occupied site and a tiler waiting, that is the detail that decides whether the kitchen goes in on the day it was booked.
- SiteBlockwork surround with stone cladding; the opening fixes the width of the run.
- LayoutStraight run in a recess: sink left, grill centre, side burner right.
- FinishBrushed stainless fronts inside a stone surround — a deliberate contrast rather than an attempt to match.
- TopDark stone, cut for the grill aperture and the sink bowl.
- SolvedThe run ends against masonry, not a stud wall. Independent modules made that a levelling job, not a carpentry job.
Constraint and response
What the site throws at it, and what actually changes
Six conditions, and the specific thing each one changes in the build. Nothing here is a new cabinet — it is a detail, a grade, or a drawing.
| Condition | What changes |
|---|---|
| No overhead cover | The front face takes rain directly. Door edges are folded and sealed, so there is no open honeycomb at a cut. Plinth set back, door bottoms lifted clear of the ground. |
| Water arriving at an angle | Hinges and the bottom reveal become the failure points, not the panel face. The reveal is what has to drain. |
| Held against a damp wall | Both carcass faces are stainless, so moisture behind the run cannot wick into the core from the back. |
| A wall that is not square | Independent modules on levelling castors take up the difference at the end of the run. No filler panel cut on site. |
| Coastal, poolside, or commercial cleaning | 316 instead of 304. It costs roughly twice as much in material and is the only condition on this list that justifies it. |
| A grill chosen after the cabinets | Cut to a nominal aperture with a blanking detail, and confirm when the model is fixed. A revision costs less than a new benchtop. |
About the finish, since it comes up every time
A wood-grain or stone-pattern front is a finish applied over a stainless panel, not a change of material. The carcass, the edges and the inside of a closed cabinet are the same 304 either way. If you want the metal look, that is the standard brushed finish and needs nothing added. If you want it to disappear into a garden, the grain does that — but it does not make the cabinet any more or less weatherproof.
Reading the evidence
What these photographs are, and what they are not
A gallery is only useful if it tells you how to weigh what you are looking at. Here is the honest version.
Taken by the owners, not a photographer
Phones, the light that was there, the time of day somebody happened to be outside. No lighting rig, no styling, no props brought in.
The surrounds are local, and not ours
Paving, walls, planting, fences, the deck — all of that belongs to the site. Our work starts at the plinth and stops at the benchtop.
Some were taken before handover
Protective film still on the doors, dust sheet still on the paving. That is what a delivery actually looks like on the day, and we would rather show it than crop it out.
No competitor kitchen appears on this page
Not as a project, and not as a reference image. Every photograph here is a kitchen we supplied.
The renders are labelled as renders
Two of the three images below are design visualisations, not photographs. They show a layout we can build, not a site we have built.
The distinction matters more than it sounds. A render will always look better than a photograph, because nothing on it has been rained on. Use the photographs to judge how the kitchen reads in a real garden, and use the renders only to judge whether a layout suits the shape of your space.
Same kitchens
Three more angles, from the other side of the garden
The angle that usually sells a kitchen is not the one that tells you the most. These are the second and third frames from cases 01 to 03.
Layouts, not sites
Five runs we have drawn and built for other clients
We do not have a photograph of every layout we can make, and we are not going to borrow one from somewhere else. These five are design visualisations taken from real orders — useful for judging whether a shape suits your space, and useless for judging how the steel reads after five years of weather.
Every one of these was drawn to a client’s own grill model and site measurements before anything was cut, so the proportions are real even though the light is not. If a shape here is close to your space, send us the two dimensions and we will turn it into a cut list.
Project versus retail
What actually changes on a project order
Nothing on this list is a hidden charge. Each line exists because a site imposes a condition a single home does not.
| Item | Retail order | Project order |
|---|---|---|
| Steel grade | 304 as standard | 316 where the site is coastal, poolside, or cleaned commercially |
| Anchoring | Stands on castors, bolted module to module | Wind or anti-tip anchoring designed for the site and the exposure |
| Drawing set | Layout and grill cut-out drawing | Layout, cut-out, fixing detail, and a services coordination drawing for the MEP trade |
| Approval | You approve the drawing | You, the architect or the main contractor approves, and revisions are versioned |
| Packing | Corner-protected, strapped, counters crated | Sequenced by installation zone, with pallet numbering matching the drawing |
| Documentation | Packing list, manual, invoice | Plus a handover pack: as-built drawing, component list, maintenance and cleaning regime |
| Warranty | Residential schedule — structure 10 years | Not under residential terms. Warranted to factory acceptance at delivery; the site condition is not ours to control |
| Payment | Deposit and balance before shipment | Staged against production milestones, agreed in the contract |
About the warranty line
A hospitality terrace is used by people who did not buy it, cleaned with whatever the contractor supplies, and often left wet overnight. We will not warrant a cabinet in that environment on the same terms as one in a private garden — and saying so up front is better than a dispute in year three. What we do warrant is that it leaves the factory as specified and inspected, and we support the maintenance regime that keeps it there.
How a project runs
Five stages, from drawing to handover
Projects move on someone else's programme. The stage that most often slips is not production — it is the approval of the grill cut-out, because the grill model is frequently the last thing specified and the first thing needed.
If the grill is not decided when the cabinets are ordered, tell us and we will cut to a nominal aperture with a blanking detail, then confirm when the model is fixed. It costs a revision. Discovering it after the counter is cut costs a counter.
Drawing and cut-out confirmation
Layout, module list, grill aperture, gas entry side, anchoring detail. Versioned and signed.
Sample or first-off approval
On repeat-unit projects, one module is produced and approved before the run starts.
Production with trial assembly
Every order is assembled and checked as a run in the factory before packing — project orders included.
Sequenced shipment
Packages numbered to the installation zones on the drawing, so the site is not searching pallets.
Handover pack
As-built drawing, component list, maintenance regime, and the test report for the batch.
Who we supply
Four routes to a project
Route 01
Architects & landscape designers
We work to your drawing, supply the fixing and services detail you need for the tender package, and stay out of your client relationship.
Route 02
Main contractors
Sequenced delivery against your programme, documentation for the O&M manual, and a single point of contact through to completion.
Route 03
Outdoor furniture & kitchen retailers
A category you can add without learning a new industry. One floor sample, then order per project. Trade terms →
Route 04
Distributors
Territory and volume discussed case by case. Private label available on volume. Wholesale →
Before you send a drawing
Three pages that answer the next question
What the cabinet is made of, the twelve modules, and the five things that move the price.
GR-01 Grill fittingThe aperture, the gas entry, and what we need from you to cut for a specific grill model.
CB-03 Dimensions & sizesEvery module in one table — height, depth, width, and the benchtop depth behind it.
Send the drawing, or just the constraint
If you have a layout, send it. If you have a rooftop, a wind exposure and a programme, send that — we can tell you what the specification has to become before anyone draws anything.
Page last updated · Reviewed by the BOGEQI technical team, Foshan Bogeqi Cabinetry Co., Ltd.
Common questions
About these installations
What is behind the four photographs, and what they are not.
Who took these photographs?
The owners, once the kitchen was in use. That is why the light is flat, the paving is weathered and there is washing on the line in one of them. A studio shot would look better and tell you less about how the finish holds up.
Can I see a project near me?
Sometimes. Installations are private homes and commercial terraces, so it depends on the owner agreeing. Tell us the country and the kind of site and we will say honestly whether there is anything visitable, rather than promising a reference that does not exist.
Can you build from another designer's drawing?
Yes. We work from a drawing set or from a measured sketch, and we will redraw it onto our own module sizes before quoting — because a 927 mm cabinet does not exist in this range, and it is better to find that out at drawing stage than on site.