Timber Frames
The Basics..
For thousands of years across a wide variety of cultures there have been carpenters who,ve constructed buildings made of timbers connected as in this diagram..
The Joints
The 'frames' we produce vary in form and size from items such as porches and pergolas to open plan restaurants in the form of an English tithe barn. What is common to them all is way in which the solid timbers are jointed. We employ the same joints as were developed eight hundred years ago - they've never been bettered! The system of joining one timber to the next is by means of a 'mortice and tenon' joint which is locked by means of a hardwood peg.
The Timbers
We use solid timbers- not laminated or composite in any way. The timbers are selected from NZ grown species- either softwoods (ie.Macrocarpa or Lawson Cypress) or hardwoods (Eucalypt or NZ grown Oak) both make splendid framing timbers.
Each frame is engineered and certificated; it has been analysed and designed specifically to meet and exceed the requirements under earthquake conditions
Although the basic principles of how to connect the timbers, remain the same, each country or region has often developed a particular arrangement of the various timbers. Not for any superficial reasons of 'seeking originality' but a natural response and adaptation to the local climate and raw materials available.
Find out what distinguishes 'The English Frame' ...
from an 'American Frame'.
Systems of Cladding
The frame below created a carport beneath a bedroom and was clad using an' infill'system. This means the timbers visible on the interior are also on display externally-( reliant upon use of durable timbers and a good system of flashings). Many of the buildings which employed this system of cladding (under the name 'wattle and daub') are still in good repair today- a thousand years down the track! A little more labour intensive but visually very striking.
