NZ ORDER OF MERIT

Graeme North awarded MNZM

Member of the NZ Order of Merit For services to architecture and natural building materials

This award is not for me alone. I see it as validation and recognition of a lifetime’s effort that has required the collaboration of many colleagues. The co-operative nature of my work with natural materials has been fantastic, and getting to know all the many people from all round the world who have also been involved, and who have willingly shared knowledge, has been wonderful.

By Graeme North

Natural building materials – these has surprised and humbled me how effusive include earth, e.g. mud brick, cob, they have been. That’s how I know that this rammed earth, straw bale, stone and natural materials work is important, even untreated naturally durable timber – are though it has consumed several thousand often locally sourced, often abundant, and hours of my voluntary and professional time. are non-toxic. Using these materials in my design work has been my life’s work and passion. Along with the Earth Building Standards, our book will be my way of imparting what I’ve learned over 45 years to help make sure the Wide scale use of such materials will be a critical next generation have the benefit of good part of a decarbonised built environment and knowledge to help them build well, and to these low carbon and carbon-sequestering make long-lasting comfortable and durable materials are the way of the future. The buildings from earthen or other natural Smithsonian Museum agrees – it predicted materials that are close by. in 2012 that the first of the forty most important things to r e c o g n i s e about the future was that sophisticated buildings would be built of mud. “ Covid 19 prevents investiture, but a substitute temporary ceremony was organised. Graeme North was to receive his MNZM from the Governor As to the current housing crisis – there are two ways out of it that I can see. Firstly, enable self-help by facilitating and assisting people to build I have kept General on Friday April the 3rd. for themselves on writing However this ceremony had out of nonearth building to be postponed. However, in toxic natural standards with keeping with the times a virtual m a t e r i a l s . my colleagues because I know how much this type of building ceremony was held between Graeme and his family and a few elegantly attired friends. “ Secondly, the G o v e r n m e n t needs to build similarly good can have a houses that positive affect people can on people’s securely rent lives. Using these materials enables people to long term to eventually own. build houses for themselves – or have them built for them – in a way that can have minimal environmental impact. At their best, natural materials use minimal amounts of energy and processing to win, place and use, resulting in beautiful durable well-scaled buildings. It is cheering to know that Standards New Zealand and some professional organisations have been of great help e.g, Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects, along with all the other nominating organisations to the past and current earth I am currently working on a book with my building standards committees, as they come daughter, a writer, where we interview people to realize more and more the importance of who live in the houses that I have designed the use of natural materials and their potential over the past 45 years, seeing how much these contribution towards a low carbon built houses have had a positive impact on them. It environment.