Carpenter Oak & Woodland has a history of creating timber-framed buildings for visitors’ centres at some of the UK’s best-loved attractions and recreation centres. These include timber-framed buildings at Westonbirt Arboretum (in Gloucestershire), Cotswold Wildlife Park (in Oxfordshire) and Thetford Forest (in Norfolk).

When a visitor centre is a truly successful piece of architecture, it becomes, in itself, part of the reason for people to visit.

There’s something about an oak timber-framed building which enables it to go far beyond simply functional use – to become something which, in itself, is a pleasure to behold. Green oak timber matches functionality with beauty in a way which other building materials simply can’t rival. In this way, it becomes part of the attraction of the location, enriching the visitors’ experience.

The visitor centre at Thetford Forest

A oak-framed building which gets better with age

Unlike many modern materials, which surrender to wear and tear – and simply get tired and jaded with age, an oak timber-framed building becomes richer and more rewarding as each year passes. An oak timber-framed building takes on a unique depth of beauty in its maturity. It’s no wonder that many of the UK’s best-loved historical buildings have oak timber frames.

The restaurant at Westonbirt Arboretum

An ecologically sound choice

An oak timber-framed building represents a responsible and ecologically sound choice. Oak timber frames take less ‘embodied energy’ to build (that’s the amount of energy expended by extracting, processing, fabricating and building) than most other materials. Carpenter Oak & Woodland plants up to ten trees for every one used, and most of our timber comes from the UK – and all of it from sustainable sources.