Nicola Herbst

• Name — Nicola Herbst • Website — www.herbstarchitects.co.nz • Spouse — Lance Herbst • Occupation — Architect

Herbst completed her architectural qualifications at the University of Cape Town. She and her husband Lance Herbst emigrated to New Zealand together and have practiced as Herbst Architects since 2000. They are known for "clever refashioning of the Kiwi beach house, or bach", and engaging sensitively with the surrounding environment. Herbst's Paremoremo House features in the book Making Space: A History of New Zealand Women in Architecture, in the chapter on recent residential architecture. The 2008 house, which can be adjusted to wind and light conditions through the moving of timber screens, is described by Nicole Stock as "less intricate than [Herbst Architect's] other timber jewel-box beach houses." Stock also says "This is the success of Herbst's architecture: she sees the environment as it is, not as we hope it to be. She also sees timber as a material able to be crafted and manipulated into layers and structures that are only vaguely reminiscent of the timber building code, but are innovative and future-focused for their insight and craft".