T  O  M  '  S

I have been building and making my whole life. Growing up I took my bewilderment about the world to my Father’s tool cupboard or a woodland trail; put my hands on it, turned it over in the stream, and tried to build something out of my confusion. I still create in order to be close to materials. I still appreciate tools, high-tech or primitive. I still delight in wood and woodlands.

Formally a design engineer, with a decade of experience in the sport of Formula One, innovation and detail have always been present in my work. I also call myself a carpenter and a craftsman, though in practice something in between and often across disciplines. Now I pursue pioneering design and workmanship with technology as its ambassador, not the other way around.

I resonate too with the life of engineer Walter Faber in the novel Homo Faber (Latin for "Man the Maker”). His rapport with machines and logic used solely for “the erection of a world of things” - as Hannah Arendt put it. Later in Walter’s journey a series of synchronistic events break his severe rationality to reveal a wider arc of life. What we make of mortality, impermanence, responsibility. Our cares, and our concerns.

In other words: We build things to effect change, why we make matters, and practical people can help shape a better future.

Timber Workshop
award winning timber construction

Since 2020 I have been working as part of a small talented team of carpenters, architects, and engineers, specialising in the production of design-led timber frame buildings.

Credits:
1. West Lynch Farm Workshop, Dorset. McLaren Excell, Engineers HRW.
2. Horatio’s Garden, Cardiff Hospital. 6a Architects , AWA Engineers. Photo: 6a Architects.
3. Church Gate, Colston Basset. Manea Kella Architects, Price & Myers. Photo: French & Tye.
4. Hampstead Studio, London. Chan & Eayrs, Structure Workshop.
5. Hampstead Extension, London. Chan & Eayrs, Rose & Associates.
6. Cornish House, Bude: Hugh Strange Architects, Price & Myers.
7. Brewers Cottage Pergola, Cirencester. De Matos Ryan, Price & Myers.
8. West Lynch Farm Barn, Dorset. McLaren Excell, Engineers HRW.

Tom’s Workshop
design & build

Combining natural materials with modern and traditional techniques I took on a range of commisions between 2015 and 2020, working alone and collaboratively.

I have spent long periods living in cabins. Places built small but with more invested in each inch. Working here in the studio-workshop during 2016 and 2017, we experimented with those ideas.

Photo credit: Out of the Valley

Transition Homes
Community Land Trust
director and trustee

Transition Homes CLT is a citizen-orientated developer, where housing is done-by, not done-to the community. Our vision is the empowerment of local people and communities to create the homes they need, in the places they need them.

Our primary focus is currently the delivery of the Clay Park site; a £5 million pound, 39 timber frame eco-home, project on the edge of Totnes. In partnership with Aster Housing Association, all of the units will be affordable rental and shared ownership for local people.

Image credit: Barry Jobson Architects