Timber Frame Design has Timeless Appeal

Designing with timber framing brings a sense of honesty and warmth to a building's overall richness. Every piece of timber exhibits unique character, creating a solid and visually interesting atmosphere. A timber frame owner learns to appreciate how everything fits together, both structurally and aesthetically. They develop a clearer sense of the skilled craftsmanship that went into designing and constructing their building.

Authentic timber framing is an art that is many generations old. Today, much of the work is still completed by hand, using traditional tools like chisels, mallets, and beetles. The timber girts, purlins, plates, and posts are joined with precisely cut interlocking joints crafted with tenons (tabs), mortises (slots) and wooden pegs called trunnels. All components of the timber frame fit tightly together, like a piece of finely crafted furniture.

This time-tested technique works with the natural characteristics of the timbers. Wood is constantly dynamic, reacting to temperature and humidity and shrinking from losing moisture over time. With true joinery and seasoned timber, one will not see connections pulling apart, nails and screws popping, or visible shrinkage as typically seen in lesser quality construction, and the structure will last for many generations.

There are environmental advantages to building a timber frame. Timber framers work with low embodied energy materials. There is less processing and transporting involved in prepping the timber versus stick lumber, saving energy. There is also less waste since specific lengths are sought out, and only what is needed is cut. Due to timbers' structural ability to span longer lengths and withstand wind loads on their own, less amounts of wood can be used, conserving our overall demand on today's precious forests.

Because timbers are enduring, reclaiming them from older buildings is not only possible but desirable because of their character and dimensional stability. Stick lumber, being overprocessed, is usually scrapped as wasted wood, filling up our ever diminishing landfills.

While the methods have changed very little, the applications and designs of timber framing have become extremely versatile, from fully timber framed, to hybrid frames, to using only timber accents to create an equally adaptable interior look.

Whereas traditional fully timbered frames were once seen as confined to a box with a rigid grid of timbers, today's frames allow timber members to be re-positioned off the grid to suit the custom spaces desired by the client. Designers are free to add character and variety by creating alcoves, niches and larger post-free spaces. Different levels can have varying footprints, and contrasting wall finishes let the timbers create interesting interior compliments.

In hybrid timber framing, a building is not fully supported by a timber frame. The timbers may only support the internal structure, allowing greater construction flexibility and design freedoms with the exterior envelope of the building.

Timber frame accents complement many architectural styles and still provide structural support. Accents allow clients to pick and choose where they want to see the timber, whether it is on a particular surface or in select rooms, creating playful interests while still working easily with a mainly conventional stick lumber framed building.

Timber framing also lends well to defining spaces more subtlety rather than creating physical separations. For example, adding a pair of timber posts book-ending a hallway or a series of timber beams to a section overhead in a two-storey open level plan creates an implied dining room or a more intimate entrance to a shared space in an open plan. Dividing the same space with walls might feel too confining or eliminate natural ventilation and views of beautiful surroundings.

Timber framed buildings represent a historical precedence in New England. The first were built out of necessity in the late 1400s. When the first colonists arrived, they had to work with what was available. Larger and plentiful trees, as well as the colonists' own ship's hull structures, were used for timber framing, carrying over the traditions they knew in Europe. In earlier times, timber framed buildings were crafted as cherished lifelong possessions. Earlier cultures viewed their buildings as heirlooms that could be passed down through generations. When the Industrial Revolution arrived, ways were adapted to do things faster and cheaper. Everything became more processed to fit quickly and generically wherever, built by anyone, and for anyone's financial means. Unfortunately, timber framers and their art nearly became obsolete.

However, in New England during the 1970s, a small group of craftsman and woodworkers including John Libby began a movement to revive timber framing, founding the "Timber Framers GuildÓ. They reached back to their roots and interests in authentic, heirloom-quality construction, returning to tradition for a refreshed construction identity and direction. Timber framing is a craft passed down through the ages. It survived because our forefathers mastered the art and left enduring precedents. Over trial and error, they found out what works best, and we now benefit from their experimentation. Today, there is a well-established group of talented and dedicated craftsman and designers that still carry on the craft. While it has evolved over recent years to meet modern needs and interests, the art of timber framing continues to represent a more personalized sense of beauty, exhibiting lasting quality and natural character both in design and construction.

Steve Ruszkai, Jr. is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional, and an Architect with Houses and Barns by John Libby in Freeport, Maine. Steve specializes in full timber and hybrid timber frame building design. He has more than 15 years of experience in the field of architectural design, and his experienced designs include heirloom-quality custom residential and barn, as well as commercial, educational, governmental, industrial, and other public projects.

BACK TO RESOURCES