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
Each project is designed in house by Tom, with over 20 years of experience working alongside both private and commercial clients. He collaborates 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 led by Tim, Fred, Dave and Ludo, 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, with over 50 years of combined experience. 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.
For every tree we use, we replant two oak trees to a managed woodland scheme right here in Cornwall. This exciting project is aiming to restore the celtic oak forests that once thrived on our Western shores and we can pin point the very trees planted on behalf of your project. Our planting partners Plant One Cornwall, who are running this scheme, are not only enthusiastic about getting trees in the ground but also ecologists and specialist landscapers who ensure successful and well managed planting schemes.
- 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 using our planting partners Plant one 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 will never replace hand crafting tools & skills, passed down the generations, with computer programmed saws.
- 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.
In the last 6 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.
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.
Fred Ochoki
Carpenter
Fred initially trained as a joiner in 2008 before side stepping into structural carpentry and Oak Framing.
Fred can do it all and is our official in house surfboard shaper.
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.
Tom Jubb
Director, Designer
Tom has been involved in timber building for nearly 20 years as a carpenter working alongside various oak frame companies before focusing on design and timber architecture.
Over the last decade, he has designed countless Oak Frames and timber buildings as well as providing complete Architectural design input for buildings such as Tremenheere Art Gallery (Penzance) and The Seven Stones Inn (Isles of Scilly).
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.
Ludo Thomas
Carpenter
Ludo is our most recent recruit. He first came to us for a work experience placement when he was 14.
Fast forward 8 years and he is now back with the team and proving a huge asset after gaining further experience with another oak framing company.
Ludo spends much free time Climbing, surfing and enjoying the great Cornish outdoors.