At the Edge of the Frame

Words by Hannah Tapping

Husk Construction has grown slowly and deliberately, with its projects grounded in lived experience and long-term thinking.

Husk Construction is a family-run construction and carpentry team with decades of experience in the construction industry. It began with Joe, a carpenter by trade, who learned his craft in the Canadian Rockies building monumental timber homes for wild winters and big skies. That time embedded in him not just a love for wood but a reverence for how buildings meet their environment.

Husk Construction has grown slowly, deliberately. “We didn’t rush it,” Charlotte says. “When we moved back to the UK, Joe started out as a jobbing carpenter in 2019. We took on projects that made sense for us and for the people we were building for.” In the early years, those projects were often small garden structures, outbuildings and timber frames for extensions. But what set them apart, even then, was a particular kind of attention. “We’ve never built the same thing twice,” she says. “Everything is bespoke.That’s non-negotiable.”

The design decisions are always rooted in use and how people move, live and change. “We’ve been that young couple trying to renovate with no time and even less money. We’ve been the family living through a build, so we know what it takes,” Charlotte says. “That’s what we bring to every project; empathy, care and detail.”

Their work is deeply Cornish, not in an aesthetic sense, but in its commitment to land, weather and adaptability. Although they are experienced in a wide range of building methods, their roots lie in timber. “Joe just loves wood,” adds Charlotte. “It’s in everything we do.  The way it takes the light, the way it softens with time, the way it brings warmth and expressiveness. We work a lot with oak, cedar, birch ply, even OSB – materials that are tactile and unpretentious”.

Sustainability runs as a gentle undercurrent throughout Husk, not least due to Joe’s degree in Sustainable Building Surveying. One of their hallmark building methods is a ground screw foundation, an alternative to concrete that leaves the ground largely undisturbed. “We literally use giant screws, two or three metres long, that are driven straight into the soil. There’s no need for excavation, no concrete, and it doesn’t damage delicate root systems. You can lift the whole structure off if you ever need to. It’s more flexible and more respectful of the land than traditional methods.”

One of their earliest ground-screw builds was an angular, timber framed office for a client to accommodate her growing business. She originally commissioned a small pod, but the result ended up being about three times bigger. “It’s a very striking building, but function, performance and aesthetics all held equal weight in the design process, which was very collaborative with the client. The orientation of the building and the angle of the larger side of the asymmetrical roof was specifically set to optimise the building’s solar output through PV panels.  It is super-insulated with custom designed CNC-cut birch ply interiors. The client wanted something that felt raw and honest, so there was no plasterboard or paint, just lots of timber and plenty of light.”

That studio led to another commission. The client’s Uncle Guy, an artist in the early stages of dementia, urgently needed somewhere to live that was a space of his own, but close to family. The result was a purpose-built annexe, designed and completed in under three months. Everything in the annexe was shaped by his needs both as a person and an artist: zero plastic, no synthetic materials and an accessible design with provision for future care. “We even strengthened the ceiling in case a hoist is ever needed. But you wouldn’t know it to look at it. It doesn’t feel like a care facility. It feels like him. His art is everywhere.”

The building was timber-framed, with aluminium windows, cedar cladding and OSB walls which created a blank canvas for artwork, and custom details such as bespoke birch ply window reveals. It was at once functional yet beautiful and delivered on a modest budget. “It came in at around £100,000,” Charlotte says. “While I know that’s no small amount in itself, for a permanent, standalone, fit-for-purpose home, it’s certainly provided food for thought as a housing model. And I think that is the key thing here – what we have created really is a home, not just accommodation.”  Their client, who runs a planning consultancy and who oversaw the permissions for the project, has since submitted the project for an award, proposing it as a socially sustainable model for multi-generational living. For Charlotte and Joe, it’s proof that good design doesn’t have to shout. “It can just quietly do the work,” she says.

Husk Construction’s portfolio has evolved. From one-off pods and garden buildings, they now take on full-home reconfigurations, timber extensions and multi-phase developments. The thread that binds their work is a closeness to the build, the land and people. One of their current projects is a complete internal reconfiguration of a family home. “They’ve lived there for 15 years. We’ve stripped it back to the bones and are rebuilding from within. It can be an invasive process. Our work is not just about construction, and we very much appreciate the effect the upheaval can have on someone’s life.” The clients have moved next door and are watching the house evolve in Husk’s hands. “This level of trust is hard-won,” she says. “You can’t fake it.”

Every build is a collaboration. They work alongside talented architects, planning consultants and a huge network of trusted subcontractors and suppliers. “Joe designs many of our projects himself. But we’re not precious. We love working with other experts, it makes the outcome stronger.”

The team on site is close-knit, literally family. “My brother is our foreman. He learned everything from Joe. My cousin works with us. Others have become like family. There’s a different kind of accountability when it’s your name on the van and your brother holding the tools.” That ethos extends to how clients experience the build. “There’s a stereotype about builders being messy, loud and chaotic. We work hard to prove the opposite. We appreciate that we’re in your home and we take that very seriously.”

Another recently completed project, an oak-framed garden room with fixed glazing, captured something of their design intent. “The light just pours in. It’s where the family now live, study, eat, talk. It’s the room everyone wants to be in. That’s when you know it’s working.” At its heart, Husk Construction is about how people live and how good design, made with care, can shift the rhythm of a life.

Charlotte laughs when asked if they’d ever go bigger. “Maybe. But I think we like being close to the build, we like knowing the people we’re building for and that’s where we feel at home.” In a time of over-scaling and design by algorithm, Husk Construction’s work feels rare; embedded in the Cornish landscape, attuned to family and built, always, with both hands.

huskconstruction.co.uk