Designing Timber issue 10 for online - Flipbook - Page 67
———— TALKING HOMEGROWN TIMBER ————
A new wing for Old School House: cladding using homegrown sweet chestnut
The cladding design has a vertical, open-jointed
arrangement at roof and 昀椀rst-昀氀oor levels, allowing
rainwater to pass through the cladding and drain away
via hidden gutters. At ground level, broader, closed
horizontal boards were used to help break up the scale
and massing of the building.
Old School House is a Grade-II listed private home
situated in Brue Valley in Somerset which has
been sensitively extended with a new wing, clad in
homegrown sweet chestnut.
EWT worked with foresters in Hampshire’s Stansted
Estate to identify appropriately mature trees. They
were hand-felled in winter for timber stability, before
being sawn into boards and air-dried over the summer.
Then they were trimmed, planed and 昀椀nished inhouse before delivery to site for installation. Architects
Bindloss Dawes explored di昀昀erent designs for the
timber cladding, testing vertical and horizontal
compositions in models.
There are di昀昀erent
durability classes of
timber, and TDUK’s Timber
Cladding Handbook –
downloadable from the
TDUK website – explains
these in detail.
“Class 3 is moderately
durable, and that should
provide a 25-year plus
lifespan,” Tom says. “But
critically, durability is highly
dependent on the quality
of 昀椀xings and how well
DESIGNING TIMBER
67
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Chestnut was
chosen to clad the
new wing of the
Old School House
in Somerset for
its stability and
elegant grain, as
well as its mellow
cladding is installed.”
Excellent timber can be ruined
by poor installation and, equally,
a moderately durable timber
will last a lot longer with careful
design and 昀椀xing. “The ability of
cladding to shed water is critical:
if there are pockets where water
gathers and can't escape, then your
durability will be e昀昀ectively halved.”
silver colour, which
complements
the weathered
Hadspen stone
of the site's main
house; © Francesca
Lovene
NOV/DEC 2025
Joinery and furniture
For furniture and joinery, the wood
species mix EWT o昀昀er is similar
UNDERSTANDING
for untreated or unmodi昀椀ed
timber – used as an entirely
natural product – but if you
wanted a thermally treated
wood for cladding then there
are options such as Brimstone
from Vastern Timber.”
When it comes to softwoods,
homegrown Western Red
Cedar and Douglas 昀椀r are good
options for cladding – both are
species originally from the west
coast of America, but grown in
the UK - and larch.
Stainless steel 昀椀xings were used to avoid corrosion
and no treatments were applied to the cladding,
allowing uniform weathering over time. Bespoke pivot
windows are also clad in sweet chestnut for seamless
continuity between solid and glazed elements. The end
results are a harmonious blend of natural materials
and bold designs.
