Well, working ventilation would be nice. Hoods designed to work in an island setup are generally more expensive, and larger because of more air currents, than wall hoods.

Have you given this any thought?

We planned to put a 48" island hood. It is below unaccessible attic space and should allow us to vent well. I'll still need to read more regarding vent volume, motor sizes, etc. Thanks.

Allow sufficient overhang on the counter to accommodate knee room. When we remodeled we increased the overhang from 12" to 16" - this also allows the chairs to be pushed all the way in when not in use. Our island is 6' by 11' and due to the overhang and weight of the granite we installed three corbels which are both functional and decorative. The corbels can be real knee knockers if not placed properly. There is one corbel in the middle with plenty of room for 2 chairs on either side and then another corbel on each end. If you don't want corbels you can add support to the counter with L brackets.

The mimimum depth to an island cooking area is 48" (24" range depth +9" safety zone for pot and pan handles + 15" overhang for seating). If this is to be a cooking only station, then all you need is a 15" safety landing zone on both sides of the 48", making your island length 78". A 78" island can seat 3 people lengthwise. That means that you prep elsewhere, with your back or side to anyone you have seated at your island and only turn to the island to do the actual cooking, wich is 10% of the time you spend in your kitchen.

I, as most, envision being able to prep (70% of your kitchen time) on the island, so now you need at least 36" on one side of the range, and still maintain the 15" on the other. You are now up to 99" (4 seats on long island side). Prepping without a water source on your island will leave you turning back and forth to your sink, twisting your body. That's less than optimal ergonomics for prepping, so let's add in a small prep sink on the island. Another 24" sink cabinet, and a 9" tray base to be able to have some small room on the other side of the sink for safety. You're at 132" for your island, and you haven't added any counter overhang, now you're at 135" (5 seats lengthwise).

Most kitchens cannot support an island that big, because you still will need 48" aisle space to either side of it, and presumably cabinets on at least one side if it's an L shaped kitchen plus island. Your kitchen now has to be 254" in order to have your 48" range be on your island. If you want the friendlier version of seating, with at least one seat on the short end of the island, you will need to add the 15" overhang to that, and increase the aisle width to 60" behind that seat. You're now at 281" Most people don't have a 24' long kitchen! And that is one of the reasons that you don't see a range put on an island that often.

Cooking is only 10% of the time you spend in your kitchen, while prep is 70%. An island is much more social and useful as your main prep space rather than your cooking zone. You can get by with a minimum of a 54" island for prep space with a small prep sink, and you'll spend most of your time actually facing your seated guests rather than with your back to them. It's a LOT cheaper also, to do ventilation on a wall than it is for an island.

Good logical argument, but it may deserve to be supplemented by an evaluation for the case where much of the prep work is done before guests arrive. Cooking might be held off until guests have arrived to ensure hot delivery. In other words, the habit of the cook may determine which function should face the guests.

kas

Thanks for the great feedback. We are a kitchen family and don't really know how to entertain without having everyone in the kitchen. I was probably not 100% accurate saying the range would be installed in an island...it will be on a large peninsula which is part of a U-shaped plan. The fridge will face the range on the short side of the U against a wall. The sink will be on the bottom of the U allowing views out a large window overlooking the backyard. I will use an island vent hood which is probably where I led you astray. Opposite of the U, on the other side of the traffic flow through the kitchen, will be a wall of 16" deep cabinets floor to ceiling. Outside of the U but facing the peninsula will be a butlers pantry wall for the kids and guests with a beverage fridge, coffee pot, small sink and a trash can. The butlers zone will be accessible to those coming in from the backyard, around the corner from the living room and easily reached from the long casual dining table adjacent to the kitchen area.

Based on Green Design I would plan on having a 9" buffer behind the range, a 15" buffer to the right of the range and a shorter 9" buffer to the left of the range, which butts up against a standard cabinet. I plan to raise the counter height around the bar to accommodate medium sized bar stools and make the depth of the counter about 16" per marie_cate. Hopefully I can keep the vent hood high enough to be effective yet allow for conversation.

I hope this works...we are getting excited. Thanks.

Let me put it this way - we suffered for 10 years with an island cooktop before I shredded the kitchen & rebuilt everything on walls. Island cooktops, sinks etc. are useless. Your are constantly moving between sink, prep, & stove when preparing food. Having one of these on an island changes the workflow, and not in a positive direction.
BTW - a 48" hood on a 48" range is undersized, especially on an island. You do not want everyone standing around an operating range.

9" is not enough of a safety zone, especially one facing a traffic aisle. The absolute minimum is 15", and that's tight when you have a 48" range. The guideline was developed with the idea of a 30" range in mind, so that if a fire happened, all of the pots on the range could be pulled off to the side, thus the double 15" safety zones to either side of the 30" cooktop. Some studies have suggested modifiying this to a larger dimension with a larger range, as the useage of large equipment has grown. I personally agree that the landing space to either side of your range should at least be equal to the size of your range, unless you never plan to use all of the burners at once. And, if you don't plan to do that, what's the point of having such a large range? :)

The other key safety issue is the aisle space. You want the maximum aisle space available here. You're dealing with high BTU's and if you need to pull back quickly because some aerosolized grease flares up, you want enough room to get out of the way. That means a full 48" in front of your range, or more if there is any traffic behind you. ANd that's the same on the sides of the range. You want enough room to be able to MOVE quickly if you need to.

The ventilation needs of a 48" island range would be at least a 54" hood that is 27" deep. Island hoods need more capture space than wall hoods, simply because they do not have the flat wall behind them directing the effluent into the hood. Effluent expands as it rises, dictating a larger capture space. You will also need a larger amount of CFM for your fan for an island hood than a wall hood. And you will need a makeup air system, which will need an HRV if you are in a cold climate. Your local building codes office will dictate the amount of makeup air required, but if you have other gas fired eqipment in the home, don't go by what they mandate. Get a HVAC professional in to make sure you won't back draft any other gas appliances. You do not want to end up with a family tragedy from sucking the CO1 back into the home.

Yeah, I have an island range being planned for my current interminable remodel, and I've satisfied all of the safety requirements, but mine is only 30" and doesn't have the firepower of the CC.

My parents put one of these in their home when they built it 34 years ago. I would advise to pay attention to the size of the hood. Theirs is at least twice the size of the stove in all directions but it's high enough where anyone can walk under it when in front of the stove. It was made by a company called NuTone. (I think) It was felt at the time for it to draw properly from the island, it had to be that large.

While the intent was for it to be an entertainment center, what ended up happening is that "stuff" ended up getting placed around the stove that's needed for cooking (no upper cabinets) and people almost never sit at the island because of it. People also don't really like to sit near stoves with a lot of cooking taking place. This house was a late century modern and the kitchen island is part of a large great room that was common at the time. So it really turned out to be more of a utility island rather than a centerpiece.