Case Study: Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson reveals what she loves about the Freedom accessible kitchen range
Freedom by Symphony, renowned for its accessible and aesthetically stunning kitchen designs, recently welcomed Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson to experience its latest accessible kitchen design. With a career spanning incredible Paralympic achievements and advocacy for disabled people’s rights, Tanni brings a unique and personal perspective to the world of accessible kitchen design. Her involvement underscores the transformative power of Freedom kitchens, both in enhancing home functionality and in maintaining a stylish, inclusive design ethos.
Tanni is one of Britain’s most accomplished Paralympic athletes, with a medal tally of 11 golds, 4 silvers, and 1 bronze earned over five Paralympic Games. In 2005, she was honoured as Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson for her services to sport. By 2010, she became Baroness Grey-Thompson, contributing actively as a life peer in the House of Lords. Her advocacy spans Disability Rights, Welfare Reform, and Sport.
Despite her demanding career, Tanni is a passionate cook and with her background in athletics understands the importance of nutrition more than most, meaning her kitchen plays a central role in her home life. Initially hesitant about accessible kitchens due to their typically utilitarian aesthetics, she was delighted to discover that Freedom by Symphony combined accessibility with beauty. Her personal experience with the brand and choosing her own Freedom kitchen encouraged her to raise awareness with other people of what could be achieved in a well-designed accessible kitchen today.
Baroness Tanni-Grey Thompson in Freedom by Symphony Langdale kitchen in Fern Green featuring ZIP Brass HydroTap Celsius Plus and Corian Calacatta Greige work surface
Tanni’s Freedom kitchen has profoundly transformed how she experiences her home. Unlike traditional accessible designs that can appear clinical or overly adapted, Freedom kitchens prioritise style alongside functionality and safety. Key features such as the rise-and-fall worktop system and waterfall edges integrate seamlessly into the kitchen’s aesthetic while providing essential adaptability. Tanni worked with Freedom’s expert design ambassador, Adam Thomas to achieve a kitchen that works for both her, friends, and family.
“Working with Adam Thomas was amazing – he’s a wheelchair user, so he gets it. He’s thinking about things that other people don’t. He was very patient in terms of showing us all the different things that were available. But the most important thing was he actually asked us how we use the kitchen. And that meant that the design that we chose has just been absolutely perfect.”
Freedom Ambassador Adam Thomas with Tanni-Grey Thompson
Tanni highlights several elements that have revolutionised her cooking experience:
Rise and Fall Worktop
This transformative feature allows her and her family to adjust the worktop to a practical and comfortable height, making cooking tasks like chopping and stirring safer and more accessible. Tanni comments, “whether standing or seated, short or tall, the surface can always the right height for all members of the family to use, rather than it being the traditional choice of one height or the other”
Inclusive Storage
Previously, Tanni and her husband, Ian, had separate areas at different heights in the kitchen due to differing physical needs, meaning they often doubled up on storage items. With Freedom kitchens, shared, universally accessible storage solutions have brought new harmony to their space.
Design Integrity
The kitchen’s design ensures it doesn’t look like it was tailored solely for a wheelchair user. Features like the Corian waterfall edge and brass accents integrated into the Langdale range add timeless elegance.
Tanni says, “In my daily life the kitchen is the centre of the house, so it’s not just where we cook and eat, it’s where we spend time together as a family and it’s where I work. It’s the heart of our house, so it’s important to get everything right and it’s got to work in lots of different ways. I now just love being in my kitchen because it works for me”
“There’s a bit of a joke in our house because I’ve always been used to worksurfaces being high, and the cooker being up high, and the joke in our family now that I’ve got a worksurface that moves down, is that I can now see what I’m burning!”
Freedom by Symphony continues to innovate, recently unveiling updated and cutting-edge features that redefine accessibility and style. Some of the latest additions include:
Ropox Verti Inside Wall Cabinets
These electric drop-down cabinets are operated at the push of a button. Available in various sizes in an anthracite colour, they are fitted with safety plates and can be linked to rise-and-fall worktops using the SmartBox system. This ensures smooth and safe operation preventing items getting trapped between the wall cabinets and work surface.
Ropox Verti Inside Wall Cabinets
Bluetooth-Controlled Rise and Fall Worktops
The new Ropox Connect App allows users to control worktop height via their phone, with programmable pre-sets for multiple users. This design also features a new design Corian Calacatta Griege waterfall edge and integrated front and side fascias. The worktop also includes a matching reduced depth undermount sink and integrated overflow waste.
Rise and Fall Breakfast Bar
Designed to facilitate social interaction and food serving, this new unique system is designed to wrap around a breakfast bar for added accessibility, transforming the kitchen space into a social and welcoming environment to be shared with friends and family.
NEFF Smart Appliances
NEFF Slide & Hide® Ovens are recommended for their unique hide away door that is concealed beneath the oven, which eliminates the risks of the burns from the hot door when reaching into an oven. The latest designs feature flexible magnetic knob controls for ease of use and non-tip telescopic shelf runners for safe access to hot dishes. The NEFF ovens are now available to operate though an app or via a smart speaker. This enables someone to have full control of their oven for the first time, for example someone with a visual impairment or restricted hand movements can now talk to a smart speaker to operate the oven. Whilst NEFF’s full-height smart fridge opens with a push on the door or by voice command, addressing common challenges for users with limited mobility or full hands, especially for tall fridges. The door will gently open so that the user can then gain access easily.
ZIP Brass HydroTap Celsius Plus
A sleek, touch-controlled tap providing filtered hot, cold, and sparkling water, complete with a pull-out hose for added convenience. This is the first hot water tap that can be put onto a rise and fall worktop and that has a retractable pull out hose. It can even have a remote control which allows someone to fill a cup without reaching across the tap which is both safer and more ergonomic.
Ropox Verti Inside Wall Cabinets
Tanni knows first-hand about Freedom’s commitment to creating accessible kitchens that enhance lives without compromising on style, and wants to let more people know about the benefits this type of adaptability provides for quality of life. The idea of future-proofing the kitchen space is important whatever the situation or time of life, so it can be used and enjoyed by anyone and for every stage.
Tanni’s feedback on the thoughtful design and transformational features reflects the core values of Freedom kitchens: inclusivity, beauty, and functionality. “I don’t feel like my kitchen was adapted. It feels like a kitchen that was completely designed for me.”
You can find your local Freedom Retailers at: https://symphony-group.co.uk/find-retailers/ and discover more about Freedom by Symphony by visiting: https://symphony-group.co.uk/brands/freedom/