Green Oak Timber Framing: Building Structures That Last 300 Years with Frontier Oak

Robin Johnson sits down with Christopher Kentish and Oliver Reimann, the co-founders of Frontier Oak, a bespoke green oak timber framing company based in Sussex. Chris came to the craft after a career in film production, introduced to it through his father-in-law's green oak company. Ollie, who studied advertising and marketing and met Chris at the age of 13, joined him in 2018 after working in production and photography. Together they have built Frontier Oak from the ground up, taking on everything from residential extensions, orangeries, and garden rooms to three-bay garages and contemporary pottery studios. Their ethos is straightforward: 100% bespoke, fully handcrafted, and managed end-to-end from groundworks to final finish.

In this episode they talk honestly about what it takes to run a small craft business, why they refuse CNC machines, how they handle green oak's unique challenges, what the future of timber framing looks like, and why they are planning to take on apprentices to keep the craft alive.

Key Topics Covered

1. What green oak timber framing actually involves and why it has been done the same way for hundreds of years
2. How Chris and Ollie each found their way into the trade from completely unrelated careers
3. The bread and butter of Frontier Oak's work: residential extensions, orangeries, garden rooms and standalone buildings
4. Why green oak clients are a different type of customer and what drives them to choose timber over brick and mortar
5. The environmental case for green oak construction and the barriers to using fully sustainable building materials
6. The technical challenge of working with green oak: movement, tolerances, pre-fitting frames and getting them to site fast
7. How CAD design fits into a traditional craft workflow without compromising the handmade approach
8. Plans for oak framing workshops and apprenticeships, and the responsibility of passing the craft to the next generation
9. The unwritten rules around apprentices in traditional trades like thatching and farriery

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Yours for the Making with Robin Johnson is the podcast that celebrates creativity, craftsmanship, and the art of making. Hosted by Robin Johnson — founder of Johnson Bespoke and BBC presenter on The Travelling Auctioneers, The Restorers, Woodland Workshop — this podcast dives into the stories of makers from all walks of life. From woodworkers, metal fabricators, and chefs to artists, designers, and hobbyists, each episode offers real conversations with the people behind the things we love.

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Key Moments:

00:00 Robin introduces Chris and Ollie and frames green oak framing as the craft every woodworker imagines

00:31 Chris fell into oak framing after film production, starting with two weeks helping his father-in-law

01:24 Ollie and Chris met at 13, both ended up in production and photography before Ollie joined the tools in 2018

08:25 The bread and butter of Frontier Oak: extensions, conservatories, garden rooms, garages and orangeries

11:53 The stigma around timber-framed buildings in the UK mortgage market and the environmental case for greener building materials

21:38 Modern volume house building versus Frontier Oak's ethos: quality over quantity on structures built to last centuries

31:59 Why Frontier Oak will not use CNC machines and why handcrafted frames are the whole point

35:20 How they manage green oak movement: pre-fitting every frame in the workshop before getting it to site fast

41:44 The honest reality of running a small business: admin, late nights and the gap between production time and everything else

50:33 Why managing all subcontractors from groundworks to plastering is their biggest challenge and their biggest selling point

57:11 The best part of the job: watching clients see their frame go up for the first time

1:07:14 Why passing the craft on is a real responsibility and their plans to take on an apprentice next year

1:11:15 Advice to their 18-year-old selves: use your 20s to try things rather than committing too early to the wrong path