Kris Bailey
Kris Bailey graduated with honours (and with Dawson) from the Algonquin College Heritage Carpentry program in 2001. Since then he has had a hand in all aspects of home building.
The journey to build better, to build unique homes began with ramming earth into tires in Taos, New Mexico in 1993. It was re-ignited by a strawbale workshop in 1998. Since then there have been plastering workshops and countless hours of on the job training and books read. In the fall of 2006 we went to the workshop of workshops, the week-long International Strawbale Builders Conference. This was an inspiring and incredible learning experience.
Dawson P. Willsey
After apprenticing with a master skateboard ramp builder while in high school, and a desire to build little, efficient dwellings, Dawson took the Algonquin Heritage Carpentry (Hons) course to direct some of those meanderings towards timber framing and the natural building environment. Having specialized in timber framing and designing frames (incorporating his previous career of design and illustration) thought for years that, as the old building confirm, timber and natural materials such as straw, clay, and stone are a perfect combination.
The inspiration of the natural world, and the builders of old who built to last with what lay at hand, along with a penchant for doing things by hand, has made for quite a journey of opportunity and exploration in the natural building world.
Gilles
Gaudet
Gilles earned his BA in Art, Music and History at the University of Moncton. While studying sculpture, he became interested in building materials and their possibilities. His interests led him to work as an apprentice for Tim Isaac, an artist potter based in New Horton, just off the Bay of Fundy.
After a year of pottery, Gilles enrolled in the Heritage Carpentry and Millwork program at Algonquin College in Perth, Ontario where he earned his diploma with honors. Immediately after graduating, he began work with Dwellings. Dwellings’ interests in environmentally sensitive building practices and time tested heritage building is one of the main reasons Gilles enjoys his work there.
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