Founding member

Gina Stevens is a Director and Designer for Build Tiny Ltd - she's extremely passionate about small space design, and is the creative force behind Build Tiny's many innovate custom tiny house designs. She comes from a background of graphic design and interior architecture, small business banking, and grass roots entrepreneurship. Gina has been closely observing the North American Tiny House movement and has seen the value of bringing together the diverse voices of the tiny house community with experts in policy and legislation to drive the movement forward. ​

Founding member

Shaye is a self confessed tiny house nerd and designer. Over the past 6 years, along with her team, She’s designed and built many tiny houses for her clients. She’s that person who’s always happy to chat away over a cup of tea for hours on end about anything tiny house related. Shaye is driven by the desire to create beautiful spaces to live in, but also to help people create lives which are full of purpose and freedom. Shaye has enjoyed many years of tiny house living and is currently designing and building her second tiny home for herself and her daughter Hazel.

Founding member

Kyron Gosse is a former chairperson of the New Zealand Tiny House Association. He is a tiny house owner and a passionate advocate for the creation of tiny house communities in New Zealand. During his tenure, Kyron contributed to establishing international relationships with similar organizations, promoting the growth of the tiny house movement in the country. He has also conducted extensive research into the legal and practical considerations involved in creating sustainable and community-oriented housing solutions.

Founding member

Lisa decided to go tiny in 2018 to get away from the rat-race in Auckland and to have more time to enjoy life. Since then, she spent 18 months living in a campervan exploring New Zealand. Having recently lost her van due to a major rust issue, she’s now on the hunt for a new tiny house on wheels, knowing for certain that she wants to continue the tiny and minimalistic lifestyle. Lisa is a marketing freelancer and writer and is looking forward to applying her skills to help progress the tiny house movement in New Zealand.

Founding member

Hannah is a resource management planner with a passion for tiny houses. Hannah has a strong research background and understanding of the regulatory provisions which act to enable and/or constrain tiny house development, having recently written her honours year thesis on the benefits and barriers to tiny houses in New Zealand. She is passionate about seeing the perception and legality of tiny houses change and seeing the tiny house movement and community grow.

Founding member

Nathan Orr was a founding member and was the previous spokesperson for the New Zealand Tiny House Association. He is a DIY enthusiast who built his own tiny house and created informative how-to videos that have been a valuable resource for the DIY tiny house community. Nathan's excellent communication skills were instrumental in promoting the benefits of tiny house living and advocating for better legal frameworks to support the movement.

Founding member

Ian Stevens comes from a background in the New Zealand Kiwifruit Industry, where he ran his business Agfirst Bay of Plenty Ltd for more than 20 years. After retiring in 2017, Ian was 'redeployed' and now acts as a director for Build Tiny Ltd - one of the first commercial tiny house building companies in New Zealand. Ian's an innovator at heart, and when he's not inventing counterweighted retractable tiny house beds, he's plying his mind to the many applications where tiny homes could help to address the NZ housing crisis - particularly in providing safe, warm accommodation for seasonal horticultural workers - an ongoing problem that Ian is all too familiar with.

Founding member

Emma self-built her tiny house on wheels with the desire for financial independence. In the process discovered she really enjoyed building things. She is now happy applying skills with a hammer and a paint brush on larger renovation projects. Emma is an IT professional; she is an experienced project manager who previously worked in central government. She is interested is growing the community and furthering the tiny house movement. Emma presented at the NZ Tiny House & Alternative living Wellington based conference in 2017 and 2018. ​

Founding member

Fiona’s passion for tiny house living began with her desire to ditch the mortgage and everything associated with it and opt for a simpler minimalist life. She’s interested in tiny house communities, sustainability, organic food production and leaving a smaller footprint.  She is an advisor within central government identifying and closing gaps in capability which aligns with her passion  for coaching and identifying the place of most potential. Fiona and partner David who is a joiner now build tiny houses in the form of single level shepherd’s huts on their 7 acre lifestyle block in Carterton.

Founding member

Hamish Fraser has spent to much time reading district plans, writing code and living in small spaces with his family. He also has experience serving as a councillor on a District Council and is currently working on matters related to comprehending and improving legislation, both at central government and local government levels. He generally keeps quiet about his dislike of suburbia and the state of housing design generally but enjoys the opportunities Tiny Houses create in disrupting the status quo. ​

Founding member

Keri is a tenacious go-getter with interest in investing in Tiny Home Village life.  Experience with influencing Governmental Depts, such as NZTA, for specification changes to roading infrastructure, she is absolutely passionate in making change happen for the betterment of the community  and creating her own dream Tiny Home.