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How to make your kitchen healthy: Ventilation, outdoor lighting, and hygiene, three key aspects

Live talk at Cosentino City Live

According to a popular saying “Where the sun and air enters, the doctor does not enter”

Rita Gasalla, architect specialized in healthy architecture, has given a live speech on “Healthy kitchens in times of Covid19”, organized by the Silestone Institute at Cosentino City Live.

During the session, the architect explained the key aspects to have healthy spaces in the common places of the homes, especially in the kitchen, a social and multifunctional space at home. She recommends 8 healthy measures and 7 aspects to improve your kitchen.

We are facing a change of paradigm

The architect also highlighted that the Covid-19 is going to create a paradigm shift in construction and design, generating modifications to the criteria of reform or new construction of a home, with the need to adapt spaces to reduce the risk of infection.

During confinement, by spending a lot of time at home, we have realized the conditions in which our homes are and the aspects that we must improve to make them healthier and more livable.

Domestic well-being: the importance of clean air

  • Ventilate common areas and spaces frequently since germ particles remain in the air for about 3 hours.
  • Do not smoke inside the house.
  • Install the dining room table near the window for better ventilation.
  • Be tolerant to room temperature allowing maximum fresh air to enter. And avoid humidity.
  • Be careful with paints, varnishes, and other materials such as lead – in homes built before 1980 this material was allowed-.
  • It is advisable to remove your shoes when entering our houses and enable, if possible, a space in the lobby for this purpose.

The kitchen: 8 recommended healthy measures

  1. Clean surfaces frequently, since the virus remains up to 3 days on interior surfaces.
  2. It is very important to ventilate the kitchen, before and after cooking since it is a space where food is handled and preserved.
  3. It is advisable to have a good extractor hood. That we should have on while cooking, especially in kitchens that are open and integrated into other spaces.
  4. Natural light is very important. If we do not have it, we must try to adapt artificial light to optimal circumstances.
  5. Incorporate plants that oxygenate the space.
  6. Have appliances that are as silent as possible to maintain acoustic comfort.
  7. Place detectors that improve air quality.
  8. Install tilt-and-turn windows that allow partial opening.

7 Aspects to improve in the kitchen

  1. Take care of smells. Air fresheners are not advisable.
  2. Install joint-less and non-porous materials for countertops.
  3. Have non-slip floors and easy to clean.
  4. Avoid plastics in the fridge and when heating meal.
  5. Locate the pantry away from appliances that dissipate heat or steam because hot steam spoils food.
  6. For the pantry is recommended to be near the fridge, which is another storage space.
  7. Be aware of the sources of contamination and try to improve their condition.

“Everything is going to change. Within the spaces that we have at homes, the kitchen is the most evolved and the most technified. Priority will be given to jpintless materials and photo catalytic materials; we will protect ourselves from polluting detergents, we will take care of ventilation in the kitchen. We will seek to maximize the use of cross ventilation and hoods. And we will be much more aware of the sources of contamination in the kitchen”.

Summarizes, Rita Gasalla, architect specialized in healthy architecture

#IStayinthekitchen