Our purpose-built workshop at Hill Farm in Studham is where we make the timber roof lanterns, windows, doors and architectural details for Kingsholme projects. It is also home to our showroom, where you can see finished products and explore the choices for your own orangery.
Set in the Bedfordshire countryside, the showroom is open **by appointment** so we can give you time to look around and discuss your plans.
The main workshop houses the machinery used to turn raw timber into accurately shaped components. Four-sided planers, thicknessers, spindle moulders and saws help us straighten, size and profile each piece for its particular purpose.
The process varies with the component. We machine timber for window and door frames, roof lanterns, fascia boards, entablatures and pilasters, allowing the details to be made for each individual design. An industrial dust extraction system collects the wood dust at source and carries it to an external collector.
After machining, we cut and joint the timber components to make the window and door frames, using comb joints and tenons where the design calls for them. The joints are glued and screwed, and the hydraulic frame press brings them firmly together and helps ensure each frame is square before it moves to the next stage.
Making the frames here gives us close control over their proportions, construction and finish, whether the design calls for traditional windows, doors or a wider glazed opening.
Our mezzanine provides a dedicated area for assembling timber roof lanterns. Once the timber has been profiled, including the decorative ovolo moulding, the pieces are taken upstairs, cut and dry assembled so we can check how they fit together.
The lanterns are then taken apart for painting before final assembly and fitting. The photographs show two lanterns at the dry assembly stage.
The workshop gives us room to keep specialist components ready for projects, including our specially made wood-resin finials and aluminium lantern parts. We also have space to receive and store substantial deliveries of structural timber, including glulam beams and studwork for orangery roofs.
Buying and storing timber in bulk helps us manage material costs and choose the components the design requires, instead of relying on whatever a builders’ merchant happens to hold.
Our high-powered extraction system collects wood dust from the machines and carries it to an external collector, helping to keep the workshop cleaner and safer for our team. A hydraulic briquette press then compresses the dust into fuel for our wood-fired boiler.
The boiler heats water stored in a 4,000-litre tank. We use that heat throughout the workshop and, particularly, in the spray drying room. Using a by-product of our joinery in this way reduces waste and our need for bought-in heating fuel, making it both cost-effective and more environmentally responsible.
Once the joinery has been prepared, it moves into our spray room, where we use two Graco Merkur spray guns. An overhead rail carries painted components into the heated, insulated drying room. They can then return to the preparation area for another coat or move on to final fitting.
This controlled process allows the painted finish to dry before the components are handled for their final checks.
Once the final coat has dried, the joinery moves into our refit area. Here, we fit any remaining components and check the finished items before they leave the workshop. We look over the painted surfaces, confirm that parts fit together as intended and make sure each item is ready for installation.
The photographs show this stage of the process, alongside finished windows, doors and lanterns. It is the last opportunity to put details right in the workshop before the joinery is taken to site.
The showroom brings the finished products together. You can see an installed roof lantern, windows and doors, including bifold doors and sliding sash windows, along with pilasters and a range of ironmongery. It is a chance to look closely at the proportions, painted finish and small details that are harder to judge from photographs.
Visits are by appointment. Contact us to arrange a suitable time and tell us a little about the project you have in mind.
Our showroom and workshop are at Hill Farm, Byslips Road, Studham, Bedfordshire LU6 2ND. Visits are by appointment so someone is available to discuss your project. Call **0800 211 8112** or send us an enquiry to arrange a time.
Discover our timber orangeries and roof lanterns, then browse completed projects to see how the details come together in real homes.
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