82 | Tricky sites no problem Studio Architecture focuses mostly on residential architecture, working with clients to achieve their new home. ARCHITECTURE Studio Architecture & Hillview Builders T T Virginia Wright After graduating with a Bachelor of Architectural Studies from Ara in Christchurch in 2012, Leah Amtman spent several years working for different companies while getting experience in the key areas of architecture that are now the mainstay of her company, Studio Architecture. Thanks to that experience, which covered the design and documentation of commercial interior fit-outs, construction documentation, residential building consents, and design and documentation of high-end residential and commercial builds, Leah felt ready to go out on her own. She wanted to manage the whole design process herself, from initial consultation and brief, through concept drawings to completed, consented plans, taking full responsibility for working with the client from start to finish. “It gave me more flexibility as well as more control over what I was doing. I often do jobs for the people I used to work with, starting with contract work for Krush Architecture (Kelly Rush) and SDMC Architecture (Sean McCurrie) right at the beginning, which really helped to get the ball rolling. I shared an office with them, so I had other people around me to bounce ideas off, and I had a lot of support there, which was instrumental in the success of my business,” says Leah. Ten or so years and two children later, Studio Architecture focuses mostly on residential architecture, working with clients to achieve their new home, whether that’s building new, or through renovation and alterations, as has often been the case over the last few years. Renovations can be tricky – working with older houses built in ways no longer current, with the need to stay within parameters dictated by the existing structures. But new builds can also be tricky, especially when they are on a difficult site in a council-designated ‘Character Area’, such as the high-end house currently under construction in Sumner. To get resource consent, the design had to be sympathetic to the established built environment, which features original Arts and Crafts-style bungalows designed by Hurst Seager in the early 1900s. “We used traditional materials, such as vertical shiplap timber and stone, recessed window treatments to create visual depth, stone retaining walls and steeply pitched rooflines to reflect that historical context,” says Leah. Another high-end architectural build in Heaton Drive, Tai Tapu required Leah to design a house resilient to being in a designated flood zone. With the house already designed to be a metre off the ground to get consent, several days of heavy rain meant the clients asked to lift the floor level another 200mm once they saw how much water there was. “It’s a big house with four bedrooms and a conservatory, which was really important to get right with all its space and light. “I’ve worked with Rhys Hill from Hillview Builders before, and we’re putting a lot of attention into small traditional details, such as outsized skirting boards, and moulded timber architraves, which help give that country feel.” It’s a 430sqm house designed to fit in with its relatively flat site in a rural area. With a guest area big enough to have its own sofa and table, and spacious open-plan kitchen, living, and dining featuring an outsized kitchen island to cater for frequent entertaining, it will be a spacious, sunny, warm house visible from the road, and surrounded by open green fields. Call 027 772 2664 PUREFLOW PLUMBING LTD Studio Architecture & Hillview Builders Specialising in Plasterboard for Residential and Commercial matt@fixup.co.nz | 027 271 9236 An innovative GIB-fixing company based in Christchurch, NZ. For an obligation FREE Quote contact us today.
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