Special report - my visit to Border Oak

Nestled in the English countryside in Leominster near the Welsh border, I had the chance to meet Steve Robinson, who is one of the senior directors at Border Oak, the company that helped build British Hills. One of my close friends introduced me to him during a lunch at Border Oak’s facility.

As is often mentioned during our Manor House tours, all of the frames for the buildings in British Hills (apart from the Manor House and Barracks) were assembled here at Border Oak!

Mr Robinson is the head of purchasing and sustainability and remembers the day when Mr Sano and members of the Sano Foundation visited his company twenty-five years ago.
He was one of the driving forces behind the project and was more than happy to take time out of his busy schedule to talk about how his company and the Sano Foundation collaborated to make British Hills.

Border Oak had never taken on a project like this ever before and were amazed at the enthusiasm and attention to detail that the Sano Foundation showed in their vision for creating British Hills in Japan. What they learnt when dealing with the Sano foundation they still use today when dealing with both overseas and UK customers. It was their great pleasure to work with the well-known Obayashi Corporation and members of the Sano Foundation to make Mr Sano’s vision a reality.

Mr Robinson recalls the actual amount that British Hills cost in Pound Sterling, a staggering 15 million pounds. Everything was constructed using British green oak, which was sourced from local areas in addition to the Wyre Forest (which is my local area).

As soon as we arrived at their facility, I was surprised how much of a resemblance British Hills has to their main office. Once we entered, it was as if I was back in Japan. The oak beams and the way they plugged together are identical. Even the markings where each piece of the building join are the same. Mr. Robinson explained that the building process has remained the same today as when they built British Hills over twenty years ago.

When Border oak were building British Hills, new techniques of construction were implemented and are still used today. Something as simple as marking the end of each beam helps the building process and logistics of each project with transportation and replacing parts.

Some of the techniques are quite similar to how Japanese houses are built and how buildings were built in the past. The picture on the right has no room for error; the gentleman is putting the marking on the beam which helps the builders to assemble the building, if he makes a mistake while carving, it cannot be corrected.

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Mr. Robinson also talked about the natural cracking that occurs in oak beams (visible in some of the structures in British Hills) and how this is all to do with the drying of the green oak. This only adds to strength and improves the structure of the building. He said that if you were to lift the building in the air it would remain intact and the movement of the beams and splitting of the green oak knits the structure together.  

Mr. Robinson also talked about the natural cracking that occurs in oak beams (visible in some of the structures in British Hills) and how this is all to do with the drying of the green oak. This only adds to strength and improves the structure of the building. He said that if you were to lift the building in the air it would remain intact and the movement of the beams and splitting of the green oak knits the structure together.  

He was very happy to hear how British Hills has adapted its business and how it gives Japanese people the chance to see elements of Britain without actually leaving Japan. He was also very pleased to see how it has expanded and thought that the introduction of The Barracks was wonderful. He was really pleased to meet with me and recall his experiences working to build British Hills.

The pictures above show how similar many of the fixtures and fittings are to the ones seen all around British Hills and also how the walls are constructed and insulated.