Services
The Green Man Building Company Ltd specialises in the care and repair of period, listed and scheduled properties as well as the construction of brick, flint and oak framed buildings such as cart lodges and garden rooms.
The company is is proud of being able to offer a complete design and building solution particularly relevant to owners of Listed Buildings where a range of traditional skills is important.
The specialist nature of our work makes the company an important point of contact for owners of all types of period properties.
With a passion for traditional architecture and a reputation for achieving prestigious results, on time and on budget,we respect and appreciate the particular and individual features that make period homes so special.
Each project is treated as being a unique undertaking ,we will always have the best interest of the client at heart and take our responsibility for passing on our architectural heritage seriously-from meeting the client,creating the design, to digging the foundations and the final hand over,we really do care- that is what makes us so popular!
Whether it is a small repair or the building of a new, inspirational oak-framed house, we offer our clients the very best of attention to detail- we listen to you and your period building!
- Bespoke design and build service.
- Complete restoration and Conservation.
- Lime Plastering/rendering.
- Render removal and brickwork restoration..
- Lime mortar specialists
- Inglenooks/Fireplaces.
- All types of historic masonry repair/re pointing.
- Inglenook Beams.
- All types of oak repairs (sole plates etc).
A living fire is a magical thing and whether it be an open fire or a stove, there is no doubt it soon becomes a focal point, the heart of the home.
The restoration of period inglenooks has been a major part of our craft for many years and we never seem to tire of bringing them back to their former glory!
If the restoration is carried out with care and attention to detail, using the right mortars, bricks and beams, the fireplace will function efficiently and look beautiful.
A good deal of our work entails undoing the results of less sympathetic attempts to patch up a period fireplace – some of these are historic and part of the story of the home, others can be unsightly , damaging and potentially structurally unsound.
Our deep experience of the way fireplaces were constructed and meant to function ensures that the results of our restoration will ‘fit’ the home and the period, enhance the aesthetic and bring you warmth, safely.
Working with oak and Elm is an ancient craft, the landscape produced wonderful trees, which when used in timber framed construction ,brought the qualities of the wood into the home- timber framed houses seem to ‘fit’ into our landscape quite naturally,so long as their character is encouraged to be celebrated, rather than covered in modern and damaging renders!
The carpenters through the ages have passed their ways of working through the generations,developing as they did the use of innovative jointing techniques which allowed for larger, robust buildings, and so timber framing became the most common form of building.
Because of its strength, the principle choice timber for construction has been oak which is used unseasoned in its green state before it has dried and hardened. The durability of oak means older buildings remain fundamentally sound today even though some were built centuries ago.
Our deep and fundamental knowledge of older buildings informs our practice and enables the production of beautiful new buildings quite unique in every detail and like the traditional timber buildings of old, they ‘fit’ into the landscape so well.
Our methods dictate that we work with what we have- the shape of each timber will inform where it goes as we choose robust timbers and happily incorporate bends and curves into designs. – truly bespoke and evidence that we listen to and celebrate the materials.
It is this approach that gives building character and ‘soul’.
The ‘listing’ of buildings has ensured that our rich architectural heritage is being valued and conserved for our future.
Listing does not cover every home that ought to be- there are very many beautiful period homes, often of the vernacular type- workers cottages,barns etc ,that need an approach to repair that understand how they were built and importantly how they should function in today’s world.
Listed or not, period buildings are our business and we do love it!
Experience is vital ,as it informs all that we do.
Knowledge of traditional construction techniques and the properties of materials ensures that we can operate with pragmatic confidence, yet fully aware of the responsibility we have to the client, the building and our heritage to get it right-functionally and aesthetically.
Should more buildings be listed- maybe, should more builders work with the building and understand it- definitely!