Earthquake rebuild has full

Architectural designer Jason Higham has completed one of the most unusual earthquake rebuild requests in Christchurch – a new house with a lot of special features that include a cricket wicket in the attic.

Owners Glenn Bongartz says he and his partner Variny Uy created the loft for their two sporty sons: “Attic trusses meant we could create a 22m-long cricket pitch, which is lined with plywood, so any sports can be played with any balls. There are five roof windows for great airflow.

“There is also plenty of storage space, which is needed if you collect ‘cool’ stuff.”

There is quite a story behind the rebuild, however. “Dad made me buy the original house in 1991,” Bongartz says. “The deal was that I pay the deposit and the mortgage, then he would renovate it, while we both lived there. I was only 19, and we actually had a stand-up argument about it, because I wanted to buy a car with the $10k I had saved.”

His father won; Bongartz became a homeowner; and his father transformed the 1950s two-bedroom, concrete tile roof-and-timber weatherboard house into a modern four-bedroom, corrugated steel roof and brick veneer house with aluminium windows and a large garage.

“A stroke knocked him around near the end of the build, but he saw and lived in the finished product before he passed away in 2001,” Bongartz says.

“The Canterbury earthquakes then came along and damaged the house, but it was still liveable. After four years of battling, we eventually got what we wanted with the house being written off. Being in a flood zone though, it wasn’t a particularly straightforward rebuild, so professional help along the way was important.”

Higham was commissioned to design a new house on the site, one better suited to modern living – with the enviable cricket/football loft, which is getting plenty of use.

“We were up there last night,” Bongartz says. “Walter (11) loves football and has some new gloves and a ball, so Douglas (15) and I were kicking balls, so he could practice his goal-keeping. Douglas prefers playing cricket and hockey.”

Bongartz says the house was designed with a preferred “function over form” approach.

“ Aesthetically, our sole focus was the road front aspect of the house with anything beyond that simply following the form it needed.

“Everything had to work for a modern family. For us, that meant no fancy freestanding baths that are a nightmare to clean around, and no impractical bathroom basins, just easy-to-clean design throughout.”

Bongartz runs a charity recycling business, and says the family focused on recycled goods as much as possible. The front door comes from the demolished Christchurch Golf Club clubhouse built in 1927. And the large brown sliding doors to the entertainment room are from the old Christchurch Polytechnic.

Other special features include two secret doors – one in the entertainment room leads through to a private office. The other door, hidden in a bookcase, leads from the office back into the entry hall.

“The kitchen has a custom concrete bench and brightly coloured cabinets to avoid the usual black, white and grey,” Bongartz says. “A sliding window in the kitchen gives direct access to the recycling bin, while a second window opens to the sheltered barbecue deck.

“The bay window in the family room is a throwback to earlier times, and is a great sun trap, with a double-burning low-emission log burner beside it.”

“The two boys’ rooms have ceiling hatches, so if they want to put ladders on the walls, they could get into the loft space.”

Bongartz says the garage is wider and longer than normal to allow for a workbench and storage. On the outside there is a hot water tap for washing cars. The large tarseal area allows for extra cars, bikes, scooters and basketball practice.

Architectural designer: Jason Higham, Higham Architecture

Builder: Onform Building