Builders, fresh to home construction, devised a successful blueprint, bringing to life their perpetual residence dream.
The Hockaday family, residing near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, embarked on an exciting journey to build a contemporary oak frame home. Their residence, completed in 2020, showcases the perfect blend of traditional oak structures and modern energy-efficient envelopes.
Key Features of the Oak Frame Home
The strong, characterful oak structural skeleton of the Hockaday home comprises wall components, roof carcass, and floor joists, joined with traditional mortise and tenon joints and wooden pegs for durability and aesthetics. Architecturally, the house seamlessly combines the oak skeleton with modern energy-efficient systems, fully encapsulating the oak frame within an airtight, highly insulated shell that complies with current Building Regulations for thermal performance.
High-performance wall and roof components, such as Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), are commonly used for insulation, allowing the oak frame to remain exposed internally and providing a stylish, contemporary interior finish. External design options include clad facades with traditional or modern materials, potentially enhanced by features such as glazed gables, oak French doors, open-plan layouts, and bespoke elements like floating oak staircases and oak-framed porches or boot rooms.
Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
The key consideration for energy efficiency is encapsulating the oak frame within a high-performance insulated shell, often involving specialist systems like WrightWall and WrightRoof that exceed airtightness and insulation standards required by current building codes. This approach ensures the timber frame’s longevity and maintains a comfortable internal environment while meeting sustainability expectations.
Self-Build Considerations
For self-builders, maintaining close involvement with daily building plans is crucial to ensure the vision is realized and help avoid common pitfalls. Living on-site during the build can facilitate efficient communication and oversight. The oak frame erection tends to be relatively swift, with an experienced team typically completing the structural frame in around two to three weeks, even under challenging weather conditions.
Using traditional oak framing techniques combined with modern design tools such as 3D modelling improves collaboration and helps visualize bespoke elements like porches or complex joinery before construction begins. Sonia Hockaday, one of the homeowners, recommends staying on top of daily plans for the build to ensure the vision becomes integral to the house's fabric.
Additional Features and Design Elements
The Hockaday home boasts several unique features that elevate it from the ordinary. Incorporating windows into all elevations and at differing heights provides better views, while a face-glazed vaulted entrance hall adds a touch of grandeur. The living room, situated on the west side of the house, serves as a quiet retreat.
The house features a high-performance Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) system, air source heating, underfloor heating, and a double-sided woodburning stove for thermal efficiency. The house's oak beams, including those in the vaulted bedroom, create majestic spaces with panoramic views.
The house is self-sufficient on the power front, thanks to the installation of 40 solar panels in 2021. Sonia recommends checking out Oakwrights' guide on the 10 things to know before building an oak frame home.
The Hockaday Family's Experience
Sonia and Jamie Hockaday, the homeowners, emphasize the importance of fostering good working relationships by taking an interest in the skills and techniques being employed and providing cups of tea and treats. They employed a planning consultant to help with the planning permission process, which involved a lengthy process to demolish a bungalow on the site and replace it with a 'post and beam' style internal oak frame.
Sonia's favorite design feature is the floating oak staircase with glass bannisters. The house, built in 12 months with a build cost of £750,000, can be viewed in person at Oakwrights' Warwickshire Open Day.
The Hockaday family's contemporary oak frame home is a testament to the versatility of design, energy efficiency, and the beauty of traditional craftsmanship.
- The oak structural skeleton of the Hockaday home consists of wall components, roof carcass, and floor joists, joined with mortise and tenon joints and wooden pegs.
- The Hockaday home showcases a blend of traditional oak structures and modern energy-efficient envelopes, with high-performance insulation used for wall and roof components.
- External design options for the oak frame home may include clad facades, glazed gables, oak French doors, and open-plan layouts, made from traditional or modern materials.
- Encapsulating the oak frame within a high-performance insulated shell ensures its longevity and meets sustainability expectations.
- Sonia Hockaday suggests staying on top of daily plans for the build to ensure the vision becomes integral to the house's fabric.
- The Hockaday home features windows in all elevations, at differing heights, and a face-glazed vaulted entrance hall.
- The house has a high-performance Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) system, air source heating, underfloor heating, and a double-sided woodburning stove for thermal efficiency.
- The installation of 40 solar panels in 2021 makes the Hockaday home self-sufficient on the power front.
- Oakwrights' guide on the 10 things to know before building an oak frame home is a helpful resource for self-builders.
- The Hockaday family fostered good working relationships by taking an interest in the skills and techniques being employed and providing treats.
- The Hockaday family's contemporary oak frame home is a testament to design versatility, energy efficiency, and the beauty of traditional craftsmanship, located in Warwickshire and open for viewing at Oakwrights' annual Open Day.
