Timber – especailly oak – takes commercial buildings way beyond the practical into something exceptional, where even the function of a joint is aesthetic – there’s no visual comparison between a weld and a timber joint, for instance.

For a place of work, learning, worship or recreation, nothing comes close to the aesthetics or atmosphere of an oak timber-framed building.

For that really special commercial building, you couldn’t be in better hands than those of Carpenter Oak & Woodland. We’ve probably built more bespoke oak timber-framed buildings than any other UK company. This approach ensures that both architects and clients always get exactly what they want – whether it’s a very traditional oak frame design or something highly contemporary.

Working closely with architects

We work closely with architects, letting them draw on our expertise, to help them to create a building which uses an oak timber frame to its best advantage. We use computer-aided design, enabling us to exchange plans electronically, collaborate on the same design and work to exactly the same tolerances as the architect. We see our role as adding expertise – helping architects to make their plans a reality, without ‘cramping the style’ of the architect or interfering with the architect’s vision. We can do this because, quite simply, we believe that no other company can engineer timber as expertly as we can – we regularly achieve what others do not believe to be possible (for example, we can create oak cross frames which can clear spans of up to 18.5 metres).

The interior of the Renewable Energy Offices

From the most traditional to the most modern oak timber frame

Few materials can match the visual flexibility of timber, especially oak. Almost chameleon-like, it can be used on the most traditional designs – or incorporated into leading-edge buildings (perhaps combined with modern materials such as glass and stainless steel). Oak timber frames always deliver a rich beauty, which remains unequalled, creating buildings of great function, warmth, strength and splendour.

One project – one team

We don’t use a deskilled ‘production line’ process, which can leave the client or architect without a consistent point of contact. At the outset of a project, we allocate a team and team leader – and they stay with the project at every stage, so that knowledge gained on the project is always used most effectively. The same team which constructs the oak frame at our yards will build it on site – the only approach which satisfies our passion for excellence and our precise attention to detail. 

Award-winning oak timber-framing skills

Many of our oak timber frames have been part of award-winning buildings – and we have probably featured in the press and on television (on programmes such as Grand Designs and Buy, Build Restore) more than any other UK oak timber-framed building company.

Griffon Park Golf Club in York

Real craftsmanship for real results

All of our projects are undertaken by skilled oak carpenters – we don’t use computerised cutting machines. This delivers an oak timber frame which makes the best use of the wood and is the most stunning that it can possibly be.

Competitively priced and exceptional value

Although all of our work is bespoke and handcrafted, it is competitively priced – and is seldom more expensive than ‘off-the-shelf’ designs, which use automated production methods and inferior products. For larger buildings especially, timber can be suprisingly cost-effective.