It is not because of tradition that I have used timber in some of the buildings that I have had the chance and privilege to build.

I’ve used timber because I like to! I like the smell; the touch, the natural colours, the veins, the knots, the mullion and the transom, the post and the beam, the dowel and the tenon; the chisel and the gauge ….I like….carpenters.

I like their work, the necessary rigour, having to think before cutting, think while cutting, as it can’t be mended afterwards; the softening ...