022 REPORTER
Tactility is clearly important to Michaelis.
Following on from his experience with Wickham
and the Harvey Nichols food hall and restaurant,
he believes his employees should have workshop
space in the studio, for models and prototypes.
He runs out of the interview to show me one of
the objects he’s excited about: ‘the most tactile
things in the world’, a shiny brown nut that
washes up on the shores of Mozambique’s
Benguerra Island, where Michaelis Boyd worked
on the Benguerra Lodge project. The way he
talks about the objects he has in his home often
focuses on their feel and tactility, and his love of
being barefoot is something he’d very much like
to integrate into his studio, although thus far
not everyone has been keen. Michaelis
particularly dislikes the contrived, which meansthat contradicts the vibrancy of the city itself.
He is much more at home in Africa, where he
has completed some of his favourite work.
These are boutique hotels and private
residences in remote locations, including Arijiju
in Kenya, which has a cloistered form inspired
by Le Thoronet, a Cistercian monastery in
France and one of Michaelis’s architectural
favourites, and Sandibe Hotel in Botswana, its
form inspired by the indigenous animal the
pangolin. While there are many city projects
he is proud of, including the Williamsburg Hotel
in New York, these are the ones Michaelis
describes himself as 100% satisfied with –
embodying what he wants from architecture:
integration with the environment, and
sustainability, through simple and natural forms.
that despite the relative abundance of quirky
elements in his home – that fireman’s pole, for
example – he would be loathed to force
something in that didn’t suit the situation.
He prefers a manual way of working –
sketching on paper to CAD, the line drawn by
hand to that on the computer – and is not a fan
of email conversation (‘using a computer to talk
to a computer’). This could be interpreted as
old-fashioned, but it becomes innovative and
forward-looking in his work.
The latest house he is designing for himself,
currently awaiting planning approval, is the
‘Leaf House’ in rural Oxfordshire. Taking its
shape from a leaf, its round form blends into the
landscape. It is highly energy-efficient with deep
greenhouses on the outside of the house that
will insulate the entire building, while for the
first of his own homes that he designed, the
desire to be energy-efficient led to an Arup
engineer’s solution of heating a house by having
single-glazed walls between it and the adjoining
the pool.
Which brings us to Michaelis’s other
passion, which he shares with his late father:
solar energy. Their initiave Energy Island
explores how the sun heating the sea can be a
source of energy, but the project faltered after
his father’s passing and having been thwarted
by the gas and oil power monopolies. He would
like to work on this again, and is now making a
difference in terms of energy where he can: this
includes in his own homes, whose eye-catching
achievements promote the sustainable methods
he has utilised. He aligns his interests and
ambitions for energy systems more with his
aptitudes, with plans such as implementing
seawater air-conditioning systems in his
forthcoming boutique hotels.
I think back to that 20% job satisfaction
and the idea of working with varying people.
Michaelis describes his working partner of 25
years, Tim Boyd, as very different to himself, but
believes this might be why the relationship
works so well (they’re rather satisfied with
their relationship!) This positive message
that extends into the office, where all staff
are encouraged to voice their ideas: what is
important is the idea, wherever it comes from.
In an interview for nowness.com Michaelis
describes fluidity between architecture and
interior design. Our conversation expands on
this – we discuss the possibility of recruiting
artists, jewellery designers etc., and he clearly
sees the value in people with different skills.
He says he would like to bring on board those
who other firms ‘wouldn’t touch with a barge
pole’. He has been that person too, having
discovered how swiftly he could be rejected
for something as seemingly superficial as dress
when he once turned up to pitch in New York
in an outfit of Birkenstocks, linen trousers and
a T-shirt.Left When it comes to his
work Michaelis feels much
more at home in Africa,
where some of his favourite
projects are located, such as
this private residence in Kenya
Right A fireman’s pole is a
quirky element in his real homeTIM EVAN-COOK PHOTOGRAPHYDOOK