Potter's House
The Project
The story of the Potter’s House began when Greg Barron purchased a piece of land in Glenbervie, just north of Whangarei, in 2002. At that time Barron had been making pottery for over 30 years and had also built several houses. Being based on the outskirts of Whangarei and working alongside other potters in that town, he was also fortunate to be in the place where the Earth Building Association of New Zealand was formed. It was there that he met many earth building enthusiasts, including Ian Redfern who would later do the drawings for Barron’s house, and learnt about different techniques for building houses out of earthen materials.
After purchasing the land for this house, Barron went about building a workshop on the site so that he both had a place to live while building his main house and a place to continue making pottery. The workshop would also provide a testing ground to refine the earthen construction techniques that were going to be used for the main dwelling. The workshop came out as a slightly smaller version of the main house but uses most of the same construction materials and techniques. The workshop cost approximately $65,000 at the time and took roughly a year to build.
Having built several houses beforehand and also being a craftsman by profession, Barron knew about the beauty that is often created when making something for yourself, a beauty that is born out of an extra level of care and sensitivity. He also knew about the cost savings that could be made due to not having to pay for professional labour. That said, he was under no illusion about the amount of time and effort required to build. Nonetheless, he decided that building a house himself would be the best option, as he could achieve high quality at an economical price. The main house took him two years to complete. With the exception of a little help with plumbing and electrical work, Barron basically built the entire building by himself.
The main dwelling (the project featured here) is a 6 meter wide, 30 meter long earthen building. The house has an open living-dining-kitchen concept, three bedrooms, a main bathroom, laundry, and the master bedroom includes an ensuite. As the house was built as a long rectangle, all the bedrooms and living spaces face north and get all day sun; they are connected by a corridor on the south facing side of the house.
As Barron had worked with clay for his entire career he thought it was sensible to use it as his building material of choice, since he knew its nature intimately. The walls are made from slip casting earthen bricks in place on a wall, one by one. The roof and floor use terracotta tiles. All the windows and doors are double glazed. The wooden elements in the building are pine; these were sourced from three large, old pine trees that were on the property’s boundary. The pine trees were milled on site with a little saw mill, and then some of the wood was taken to a nearby timber yard to be chemically treated to resist borer and weathering. The treated pine was used in the lintels above the doors and windows and in some of the structural beams in the building. The various wooden elements in the house - including the ceilings, kitchen cabinetry, and dining table - were handcrafted by Barron out of the pine trees.
Low Cost
There are two main factors contributing to this project being a low cost house. The first is that the materials themselves were low cost and in some cases free. The pine trees for instance, which account for the wardrobes, beams, kitchen, and doors, didn’t cost anything and the earth was all sourced onsite or nearby. The second reason is that Barron provided all the labour himself, which he estimates accounted for two years worth of work.
About Greg Barron
Greg Barron has been making pottery for 50 years and has received a number of prestigious awards for different pieces over the years. Barron's journey with pottery began in secondary school. There was a pottery area in his art class that he was drawn to and his art teacher knew how to make pottery pieces on a potter's wheel. Barron discovered that he loved to work with clay and became immersed in it. After leaving high school he went to a design school in Wellington where he learnt about art history, how to observe the world from the eye of a designer, and a range of design theories contemporary at the time. Over time and through a lot of experience Barron has created a unique and beautiful style of pottery that we won’t attempt to define here.
In regards to building, Barron believes that when you build things for yourself you not only pour yourself into the creation but take better care of it. He notes that when building for oneself one is more open to spending time resolving difficult problems that arise and more willing to find cost effective and innovative solutions. He feels that when you pay someone else to do the work they will often go for the easiest option even if it isn’t cost effective or elegant.
Greg Barron has lived in his home for almost a decade and plans on staying in it for the next two.
Contact
If you are interested in seeing any of the pottery that Greg Barron or his partner Jin Ling make, it is best done in person by visiting the Studio in Glenbervie. Alternatively you can view some of their pieces online at glenberviepottery.com. Any building related questions are best directed to Low Cost Housing Aotearoa (put Potter's House in the subject line), as Barron is focused on making Pottery.
