Perhaps a more skewed "U-shaped" layout would provide better use of space depending on what the rest of the floor plan is like.

Make the island larger and place the sink there.

Is there a real need for all the angles?

HI -- Is this a bought stock house plan or did an architect draw this up for you ? Is this house being built or already built ? If this is a bought stock plan house plan , you should never build the kitchen the way it is in the drawing . Not much professional kitchen design or thought is put into these plans. Architects really never make good kitchen designers . You need a certified kitchen designer or interior designer to properly plan and design the kitchen . The plan shown is not the best for the space and the function doesn't work . The sink is to far away and the islands are not right .

It is the builders plan. He seems to want to optimize it around sight lines. (Architect view, as you indicate.) We haven't committed to building it yet. Changing the layout to a u or island seems sensible. If it's a u, would you close off the pass through and add cabinets? (Solving the glassware problem). A large island option would be pretty, though.

HI -- The island with the sink would be better where the other island is . And where the pillars/posts are could just be left as open space or just have a serving buffet built in there . Then I would have the fridge at the end close to the pantry and move the stove a little further down towards where it shows the fridge location . The fridge location on the plan could have a wine / beverage fridge there instead . I would also make the fridge (now near the pantry) look more built in by having a full depth top cabinet and a side gable . On the new sink island you could have a drawer micro and a pop up electrical tower . I would defiantly - not - make the kitchen a "u" shape . That would just interrupt the flow of the room.

I don't think you'd want to go around the island to get from stove to the sink and back, either!

It has been my experience that many architects aren't too handy at designing functional kitchens, fwiw. It's frustrating that they don't put more intelligent thought into the kitchen, given it's probably the busiest space in most houses.

If you're tied to that square footage and footprint, how about putting the sink on the wall where the fridge is, and putting the fridge on the wall where the sink is?

The work triangle has morphed a bit - here is a great article:
http://bit.ly/1twBeIy