What we do
From our workshops and studio overlooking the coast in St Ives, we design and handcraft bespoke Oak Frames and timber buildings. We create beautiful spaces for people to live, work and visit. Our work is hugely varied; it includes residential houses, extensions and cabins along with commercial spaces such as galleries and community buildings too.
Design
Every Post and Beam frame is designed in house. We collaborate closely with you and your Architect to create your bespoke timber frame design. We are able to offer planning and building control design packages in-house for smaller projects, and in conjunction with partner Architects and designers for larger schemes.
Carpentry and Workshop
Our expert workshop team cuts and handcrafts sustainably sourced Oak, Douglas Fir and Larch beams to create your exceptionally durable & timeless Post and Beam frame. The team will be involved personally throughout the process and are always happy for clients to come and visit our workshop during fabrication to talk through the finer details.
The majority of our projects are within the South West & Cornwall, however, we are able to design and handcraft an oak frame for delivery nationwide. As part of our service locally, we can also provide insulated timber “wrap” panels, cladding and applied glazing systems.
Essential to our work is our highly skilled team with vast amounts of experience in the oak frame and timber building industry. This enables us to take on challenging and complex projects, including traditionally jointed structural carpentry, contemporary timber steel hybrid frames, insulated panel systems, timber cladding, as well as incorporated applied glazing and sub-frame joinery.
Our Nature
Our aim is to create inspiring buildings and spaces that are designed to be used for generations. These are created and built by craftspeople who know their field inside and out, and are a community amongst themselves.
Here at Post & Beam in Cornwall, we operate as a small yet highly skilled team. Integral to our approach is the care and consideration for all that we do, the people we work with, both employees and clients, and also the environment in which we live.
- We care about our environment and the ecological impact of what we do. We ensure that each project is offset by contributing trees to both non commercial native leaf UK woodland creation in Cornwall alongside European managed commercial forestry, where we source most of our timber.
- We only build with timber. Not only is this timber sustainably sourced, it acts as a sink locking embedded carbon in your oak or timber frame for the lifespan of the building.
- Our timber is sustainably sourced from the UK and Northern France, in line with PEFC and FSC Guidelines.
- Each timber is worked on individually by hand in our workshop. We prioritise the use of traditional hand crafting tools & skills, passed down the generations in conjunction with modern electric woodworking machines and tools.
- Each client receives a personal approach, each individual project, whatever its scale being managed with care and precision.
Who we are
The Post and Beam story began in 2007, when Tom and Tim first crossed paths working on oak frame projects together at Carpenter Oak Ltd. In 2014, following several years of collaboration, they relocated back to St. Ives, Cornwall and established Carpenter Oak Cornwall Ltd, a franchise of the business.
Over the last 12 years, alongside working on numerous residential projects, the team have designed and produced a number of iconic buildings, including Rick Stein’s “The Cornish Arms” in St Merryn, The Tremenheere Art Gallery near Penzance and The Sevens Stones Inn on the stunning island of St Martins in the Isles of Scilly.
At the start of 2020, the decision was made to become a separate entity from Carpenter Oak and re-brand the company as Post & Beam Ltd.
We operate as a small but highly experienced team, ensuring a personal approach is achieved with every project, whatever its scale. All of our team have a strong connection to our base in West Cornwall. If not in the workshop you will find one, or maybe all of them, on or in the water at one of our many local beaches and surf spots.
Joe Freeman
Carpenter
Joe joined Post & Beam in 2023, bringing with him a rare blend of hands-on craftsmanship and technical expertise.
A qualified engineer and time-served joiner, he has a deep appreciation for precision, problem-solving, and the beauty of well-made structures. These attributes have made Joe at the forefront of the team.
Outside of work, Joe can usually be found with his young family, surfing, exploring the outdoors, or immersed in music – anything that keeps him active, inspired, and connected to the world around him
Tom Jubb
Director – Design
Tom has been involved in timber building for over 25 years. Working and training as a carpenter alongside various oak frame companies before focusing on design and timber architecture. Before founding Post and Beam with Tim and Lee he ran a timber specific design studio in Cornwall.
Over the last 15 years, he has led the design of countless oak frames and timber buildings as well as providing complete Architectural input for buildings such as Tremenheere Art Gallery (Penzance) and The Seven Stones Inn (Isles of Scilly).
As well as running the design office Tom also guides our clients through their timber build journey with Post and Beam.
Tim Simpson
Director – Carpenter
With over 17 years carpentry and construction experience behind him, Tim has been at the forefront of the Oak Framing industry for over a decade.
He has project managed many of the South Wests most recognised Oak Frame buildings as well as countless domestic projects.
Tim lives with his family in Carbis Bay less than a mile away from the workshop.
Lee Manning
Director – Finance
Lee has been in the construction industry for 24 years.
Primarily involved in finance, sales and corporate governance roles, he has long been an advocate for transparency in business, employee ownership and non-hierarchical systems of governance.
As well as being a qualified accountant, Lee works as a part-time paramedic and sits on the board in a non-executive capacity for other construction based companies.
Luka Walker
Trainee Carpenter
At just 20, Luka is already carving out a strong path in traditional carpentry.
He’s currently undertaking his NVQ Level 2 in oak frame carpentry through a joint programme with Post & Beam and the Carpenters’ Fellowship Oak Frame Training Forum.
Based in St Ives, Luka brings enthusiasm, curiosity, and a growing skillset to every project, with a clear passion for learning the craft from the ground up.
Liam Kelly
Architectural Technician/Carpenter
Liam is a specialist in oak frames and timber construction.
With many years of experience in the sector, he offers a practical, grounded understanding of how timber buildings should come together.
Alongside his independent work, at Post & Beam Liam handles planning applications and building-control coordination for in-house schemes as well as workshop frame drawings.
This facilitates Post & Beam’s role as Principal Designer, ensuring each build is compliant, whilst putting the timber frame at the centre of the process, allowing our frames to shine!
David Walsh
Carpenter
Dave Started his timber framing career here in Cornwall before relocating to work in Scotland. Over a period of 7 years there, Dave worked on Oak frame and timber frame projects as well as leading a team on new passive house builds.
Dave came back to his Cornwall roots with his family and joined Post and Beam in 2021.