Our late friend Merle Adams, founder of Big Timberworks, once said, “If the spokesperson for a product or a cause doesn’t practice what he or she preaches, then the opposite of what what he or she says must be true.” In designing our new manufacturing facility, it quickly became apparent that a pre-engineered metal building that we designed ourselves would be the least expensive option. But Merle’s words kept nagging at us. Would it not occur to a future client touring our shop to wonder why we didn’t build our building the way we’re telling her to build her building? How could we emphatically suggest engaging an architect…when we didn’t? Would our employees not prefer to work in the kind of space we build for our clients? Finally, would such a building not help future clients visualize what we do and experience what it feels like to be in a timber frame? So, little-by-little, our new timber frame shop became a high-performance and beautiful post & beam and timber frame structure wrapped in a blanket of super insulating SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels).

Groundbreaking 2.0

There’s just something about watching heavy equipment do its thing…it awakens the little child in all of us. Our friends at Maurice Jordan Builders are doing our grading, foundation, and slab. In addition to bringing a level of attention to detail and quality that is simply uncommon in the general construction industry, they’ve branched out into the reclaimed lumber, cast iron and rustic furnishings business.

A Unexpected Benefit: Compassion

We didn’t see this one coming, but one benefit of our new building in West Jefferson, North Carolina is that it’s helping us walk in our clients’ shoes. We’re experiencing, right now, the joys and the pain of building…and it’s good for us. It reminds us what an inherently creative and fun process building can, and should, be. So too, it reminds us how expensive it is to build, how busy the construction trades are, and how many decisions there are to make!