| 87 T T Kim Bowden Westport home ticks all the boxes The home has a low-slung roofline and stepped facade that breaks up the volume. ARCHITECTURE Micah Architecture An architecturally designed home tucked into the unassuming streets of suburban Westport has earned recognition in the New Zealand Institute of Architects regional awards. Architect Micah Rickards, of Micah / Architecture, says it was important this home felt right in its small-town setting. Called ‘Out on its Own’, the home was designed for a client that had lived around New Zealand and abroad, and was looking forward to retiring to their hometown of Westport. She snapped up a section a few streets back from the main drag, next door to a childhood friend, drawn by a desire to reconnect with her roots and build a warm, welcoming space to host the people she loves. “That’s why she chose Westport,” Micah says. “A lot of out-of-towners buy lifestyle blocks on the outskirts or go down by Punakaiki. Whereas she was, like, ‘No, I don’t want to be ageing and being isolated out of town by myself, I want to be close to amenities, I want to be close to my family and friends’.” Its suburban location drove many of his aesthetic choices, he says. “Compared to the other shortlisted houses, it’s just made of weatherboard, it’s got a ‘corrie’ roof, it’s got a blockwork garage. They’re quite rudimentary materials, and that was a response to the timber dwellings around the place.” The homeowner was determined to go up a level, for the mountain views. That raised a design challenge: how do you build up without sticking out? Luckily, her friend’s two-storey corner house next door gave the project a kind of architectural permission slip. The result is a home that isn’t too flashy from the street, with a low-slung roofline and stepped facade that breaks up the volume. Micah describes it as a “motley house” in the best sense: a bit of a veranda here, a quirky front porch there, a garden wall that gives it texture and character – all subtle nods to the tacked-on porches and idiosyncratic add-ons of its surrounding homes. “It’s not some big architectural box,” he says. “It still raised a few eyebrows – people have definitely noticed it – but I’m hoping it feels ‘a bit more of the place’ than it might have otherwise.” Although there were no official regulations at the time, the local council was starting to consider flood mitigation measures in the area. Rather than wait for the rules to catch up, Micah took a proactive approach, raising the entire house approximately a metre off the ground on stilts. The concrete block garage, a non-habitable zone built for storage, is designed to take the hit if floodwaters ever rise, and is easy to hose out. A couple of personal touches bring character and history to the design. In the kitchen, a handcrafted rimu bench top – made by a close friend of the owner – is a centrepiece. Rather than stick with the expected, Micah chose to lift the breakfast bar on slim steel legs, giving the piece a sculptural quality that elevates the space. Then there are the stained-glass windows dotted throughout, salvaged from the client’s family-owned clothing store located in Westport and restored and refitted into new aluminium frames. Another favourite feature is the broad northwest-facing veranda – it makes the most of golden West Coast sunsets and offers a sheltered, elevated spot to enjoy the outdoors, rain or shine. HEATING KIWI HOMES SINCE 2008 WWW.LHZ.CO.NZ 0800723426 • German Electric Radiators • Colour options available • No boiler, No pipework, No maintenance • Silent Operation • Fully controllable via smart phone www.micah.co.nz / micah_architecture
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