Strength in Every Beam
- Jamie Crocker
- Jul 3
- 4 min read
Words by Jamie Crocker
Contemporary timber frame specialists with Devon roots and Cornish craftsmanship at heart.
In the edge of an estuary or tucked behind the dunes, timber-framed buildings carry a certain integrity, drawn from the materials themselves and the intelligence with which they are used. In the hands of Post and Beam, timber goes beyond being a structural element; it frames a place and gives it a distinctive air that is impossible to replicate with other materials. As such, it is foregrounded, becoming a point of conversation, as it gently ages, confident in its grainy splendour.
Founded in Devon but based for over a decade in Cornwall, Post and Beam’s name calls to mind a particular kind of architecture – ancient, load-bearing and beautiful in its simplicity. It’s also a clue to the company’s ethos: nothing superfluous, nothing just for show. Every cut of oak, every dowel, every mortice and tenon has a purpose. That ethos has earned them an enviable reputation, not only in Cornwall where their workshops are based, but across the breadth of Devon, where their reputation has accumulated more respect and commissions.
To describe Post and Beam as oak frame specialists is accurate but incomplete. Yes, they work predominantly in oak – and increasingly in Douglas fir and Glulam for contemporary structures – but it’s the way they work that distinguishes them. There is a precision to everything they do, born not just from technical skill but from relationships: with architects, contractors, and – very importantly – with the land each building must inhabit. Their long-standing partnership with Roderick James Architects in Totnes bears testimony to this. Together, the two practices have delivered some of the South West’s most sensitively considered structures – homes, studios, outbuildings, pool houses – that sit in connection and respect with their surroundings rather than in opposition to them.
Post and Beam are not empire builders. Their projects are often low-key from the outside, but reveal a layered richness once inhabited. A Glulam boat store and yoga studio in Bantham. A New England-inspired oak frame house in Thurlestone. A Douglas fir extension to a historic home in Totnes. They are tailored responses to people and place. Their approach is generous – an instinct for collaboration that begins with a site visit and extends through design and delivery. They’re happy to work with clients’ existing architects or to recommend trusted professionals they’ve spent years collaborating with. That spirit of cooperation doesn’t just apply to design either. Their knowledge of Devon’s contractors and construction has been carved over a period of time, enabling them to slot into live projects or lead from the start with equal fluency.
While Cornwall remains their base, they are happy to cross the Tamar. It’s a landscape they understand in its particulars, from the wooded folds of the South Hams to the long views over Bideford Bay. Many of their clients arrive via word of mouth, having seen or stayed in one of their previous builds. Each project, in turn, becomes a calling card or an invitation. The result is a slow accumulation of trust, which you can’t buy with ads or slogans.
For clients, Post and Beam offer the rare blend of rigour and responsiveness. Their knowledge of timber construction means they can push the material to do extraordinary things – vaulted volumes, generous spans, deep overhangs – while retaining the discipline of fine joinery. They don’t over-engineer; they let the inherent properties of the materials that they work with come to the fore. Their work is contemporary in sensibility but rooted in centuries-old craft, and they have an uncanny ability to judge when to pare back and when to elevate.
Free site visits across Devon or Cornwall allow the process to begin in the right way: face to face, on foot, on the plot itself. It’s a necessary first step. The land comes first. Light, wind, boundary lines and borrowed views are elements that are absorbed, not imposed upon. From there, the process unfolds with the measured pace and steady hands of a team that knows what it’s doing.
In a market flooded with generic designs and quick builds, Post and Beam offer something rarer: buildings of integrity. Timber structures that wear in, not out. And a bonus – for every tree used, two oak trees are replanted through a managed woodland scheme based in Cornwall. This ambitious project seeks to restore the Celtic oak forests that once flourished along the western coast. Each tree planted can be directly linked to an individual project, offering full traceability. The scheme is delivered in partnership with Plant One Cornwall, a team of ecologists and specialist landscapers whose expertise ensures each planting site is carefully planned, well managed and ecologically sound.
For anyone taking the first steps toward building in Devon or Cornwall and wanting to create a home that marries tradition with modern craftsmanship, Post & Beam should be on your list of potential constructors.
