Even though Grand Designs Live finished on Sunday, I still have enough photos and thoughts for about another ten blog posts. One of the companies that I was very keen to talk to before the show ended was Carpenter Oak, who were demonstrating on the Traditional Build Techniques stand. If you’re a Grand Designs fan, you may have heard of Carpenter Oak (or their sister company, Carpenter Oak & Woodland) as they designed and built the timber frame for the beautiful Argyll house. The two companies used to be one, but diverged so that Carpenter Oak could specialise in new builds and Carpenter Oak & Woodland could focus on restoration work.

I absolutely love green oak framed buildings, with all the oak exposed and wonderful big double height spaces. Although I say that this blog is about finding out what sort of a house Kevin and I want to build, I will admit to a prior bias towards green oak. It’s beautiful, environmentally friendly, warm and full of personality – a much needed antidote to the soulless places I’ve lived for much of my life. So I was delighted to get the opportunity to talk to Glen, below on his shaving horse, about oak framed houses.

In the first part, we discuss types of builds, spiders. how environmentally friendly green oak is, sustainability, where the oak comes from.

And in part two, Glen tells me about the frame they had on the stand, how much it costs and what its fate will be:

If I had the opportunity to build a green oak house tomorrow, I’d jump at it. For the moment, though, I can only dream.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 12:11 pm and is filed under Grand Designs, exhibitions and events, materials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.