How we work

You will meet with our building designer on-site to discuss your initial ideas and help us understand your aspirations for your new oak-framed building. Our designer will take any necessary measurements and discuss any possible council planning requirements.

Our talented architectural designers will create initial concept drawings and suggestions for your oak frame, accounting for your wishlist, budget and local planning requirements. We’ll present the initial concepts to you, together with a guideline quotation as a complimentary proposal, ready for you to review and feedback on. If you’d like to proceed, we then develop the concept sketches into detailed drawings and develop your buildings regulations package.

Should your oak frame building require planning permission, our experienced planning team can take care of the planning approval on your behalf. With many years of experience, long-standing relationships with planning authorities across Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex, and a collaborative relationship with our in-house design team, our planning experts have an excellent success rate in gaining approval for our oak framed buildings, with minimal back and forth.

If your oak building does not require planning permission, you must apply to the council for a Certificate of Lawfulness. This is a similar process to the full planning application but incurs a reduced Local Authority fee. Again, this is something our planning experts can manage for you.

With planning approval received and the quotation signed off, we propose your full programme of works.

This includes a detailed timeline and milestones, sharing full transparency on the steps of your project. You will be assigned a highly experienced project manager who will provide guidance and support as your main point of contact throughout your project. This person is responsible for liaising between all project staff and ensuring your build meets our exacting standards while keeping you informed and being on hand to answer any questions you may have.

With your design approved, our carpenters choose the oak for your building. We work closely with our local timber partners in West Sussex to select the perfect pieces of fully traceable, sustainable oak for your project. Our close involvement with our suppliers allows us to be especially precise with our requests, ensuring your completed oak building is truly unique. You are wholeheartedly welcome to visit us and our partners so you can learn more about where the oak for your building comes from. You can even help select the oak, perhaps choosing a particularly characterful beam or post for a key part of your build.

Once your oak is delivered, our team of oak carpenters carefully check each piece of wood to ensure it meets our expectations and will last for years to come. They then get started, crafting your bespoke oak frame using time-honoured techniques. The workshop team liaise closely with the on-site manager and once the building has passed all of our rigorous quality checks it will be delivered to our site team to erect.

Back on site, our health and safety-trained staff prepare your grounds for the upcoming works by providing barriers, site signage and welfare facilities. When the project manager is happy that work can proceed, it’s time for groundwork to begin.

Here’s where you can start to see things taking shape. Our groundworkers demolish, sculpt and prepare the ground ready for your foundations. Groundworks aren’t always handled by other oak framing construction companies. However, by coordinating and managing this aspect of the build ourselves, we can ensure your project is run respectfully, on time and to the standards necessary for a build that will stand the test of time.

Building regulations approval is required if your buildings interior exceeds 30m², or if it’s within one metre of a boundary. We look after this for you, applying for approval, arranging for inspections to be carried out and providing you with a completion certificate at the end of the project from our approved independent inspector.

With everything in place, it’s time to erect your frame. Seeing your stunning oak-framed building assembled before your eyes is an exceptional feeling. There’s no stopping and starting; your carpenters will work on your build until completion. We manage all scaffolding, install the roof too and ensure your site is left spotless at the end of the project.

As part of our end-to-end service, we can take care of the entire internal fit-out for you, resulting in faster completion and our guaranteed high standards. This includes first and second fix carpentry, lining, insulation, flooring, electrics, plumbing, decoration and installation of kitchens and shower rooms.