Oxfordshire
Timber Lined Vaulted Living Space
Vaulted living space, timber walls & stone flooring
The project
A vaulted living space lined in timber to walls and ceiling, with large-format stone flooring and built-in shelving worked into the structure rather than applied to it.
The effort behind it
Every board was numbered in the workshop so the grain runs continuously from wall to vault across the room. The boards were conditioned on site for three weeks under monitored humidity before fixing, and two deliveries were rejected for moisture content outside the 8-10% band agreed with the joiners.
Challenges faced
The hardest part of Timber Lined Vaulted Living Space was what nobody could see until the work began. Hidden defects in the existing structure forced redesigns mid-programme, and consents in Oxfordshire meant every method statement went through a third party before a tool was lifted. The team held the programme by resequencing whole phases rather than cutting corners on the phase in front of them.
Team & involvement
Delivery was led by a working site manager with a core crew of our own trades, supported by structural engineers, building control and specialist subcontractors we have worked with for over a decade. Morning briefings, a live programme on the wall and photographic records of every concealed stage meant the client in Oxfordshire always knew exactly where their project stood.
A successful outcome
Timber Lined Vaulted Living Space was handed over on programme and within the agreed budget, with building control sign-off at the first inspection of every notifiable stage. The client moved back in on the date we gave them at tender — and the aftercare visit twelve months later found nothing to put right. That is the standard every DBS project is measured against.
