Expertise In Action: Bespoke Joinery Solutions For A Sustainability Driven Project for TV architect Charlie Luxton
“You notice the quality immediately – the joints, the spacing, the finish – it’s all executed with real skill.”
Stairways Midlands delivered a remarkable package of entirely bespoke door sets and large timber screens for Home Farm, a highly ambitious commercial barn conversion in the Cotswolds.
Home Farm combined technical complexity and bespoke design across a large-scale project. Calling for deliverables outside Stairways’ standard product specifications, including making use of reclaimed materials and creating feature screens – one 4.5m high, the other 4.5m wide, it relied on the depth and breadth of knowledge, skills and expertise within the Stairways team to deliver the unique joinery products required.
Working alongside RWM and Charlie Luxton Design on this multi-barn project, Stairways delivered 57 door sets – including some with glazing, staining, and screens – as well as a range of large-scale screens, all of which were tailored to a minimalist, sustainability-driven, architect-led vision.
Home Farm comprises three spaces:
• The Office Barn – a contemporary workspace with a barn-inspired aesthetic
• The Long Barn – two large conference suites, a medium conference room, several breakout spaces, a kitchen and entertaining area, and a large reception space
• The Tractor Barn – a wellness building including a gym, studio space, and showers
The project was designed by Charlie Luxton Design, the practice of high-profile architect and television presenter Charlie Luxton, known for his minimalist, environmentally conscious architecture, and work across a multitude of television series over the past 25 years.
Blending rough-sawn timber surfaces, clean angles, and a calm, modern palette, the project has a strong environmental focus throughout – including the use of reclaimed materials.
Evenlode Investment is an independent, employee-owned asset management firm based in the North Cotswolds. Established in 2009, the company has grown steadily, building a multi-generational team focused on long-term, sustainable investment.
Stairways was approached by RWM, who won the tender for the full conversion and brought Stairways into the project towards the later stages of the build.
Stairways delivered 57 door sets – including 29 fully glazed, four with glazed side screens, nine stained green to match kitchen cupboards, four made from recycled materials, and 11 with recycled glazed panels – alongside three feature screens.
Every element of this project was custom-made non-standard frame sizes with 5mmshadow gaps, fully bespoke glazing beads, European oak and tulipwood door sets, and complex Douglas fir screens standing up to around eight metres in height.
Many items were created around reclaimed materials supplied by the client, including doors and screens – most of which needed to be cut to size or built to give the illusion of perfect sizing.
Stairways produced individual drawings for each door and screen, visited the site to talk through each element with the architect, and manually created cutting lists. As the turnaround was very tight and the attention to detail was essential, Stairways brought senior technical staff into the factory to support production. Between the team working on the Home Farm project, each brought expertise from different areas of joinery.
One of the biggest challenges was the tight turnaround. Having joined the project in August when the buildings were already almost fully decorated – walls painted, floors down, ceilings finished – the client wanted final delivery by October. To overcome this, Stairways staggered their delivery of doors and screens – ensuring the most important spaces were fitted on time (e.g. bathrooms).
Another challenge was achieving the architectural ambition – including large, structurally demanding screens, concealed green doors to blend seamlessly with wall cladding, and detailed design specifications.
When creating the largest feature screens, the team faced one of the most technically demanding elements of the entire project. With one standing 4.5m high and 3m wide, and another 2.4m high and 4.5m wide, the scale of the screens meant they couldn’t be transported in one piece, so the team manufactured the designs a kit form that could be assembled on site.
They also had to adapt to work with the reclaimed glass, as each pane was a different width. Hidden, asymmetrical rebates were engineered within the frame to accommodate the irregular glass while the screen looked perfectly aligned and symmetrical.
Home Farm is now up and running, with Evenlode Investment enjoying the new barns.
Jonny Gabe, Architect at Charlie Luxton Design, said:
“Stairways delivered a great package of work including multiple bespoke door sets and slatted screens, which are the standout element for me. You notice the quality immediately – the joints, the spacing, the finish – it’s all executed with real skill. Working with Stairways, we were able to push the design in a way that wasn’t straightforward, especially given the scale and bespoke nature of the project. Seeing these screens installed and working so perfectly within the space really brings it to life.”
Richard Kowalski, Technical Manager at Stairways, said:
“Home Farm was one of those projects where everyone at Stairways was able to draw on their full range of skills and knowledge. The scale and complexity of the bespoke elements made it a real challenge, but also an incredibly rewarding one. Every detail had to be considered, every piece precisely engineered, and it pushed us beyond what we usually do. Seeing the finished result, knowing how much care and expertise went into it, is something I’m proud of. It was a lot of work, but absolutely worth it for a project that’s truly one-of-a-kind.”
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