05 / 08 Oak framed buildings
Hopton Oak builds oak framed outdoor kitchens: a solid oak roof over the cooking and eating area, so you can cook outside in any weather. Each one is designed around the oven, worktops and table you want. The outdoor kitchen we built in Reading has a pizza oven and chimney and took three days on site.
Oak framed outdoor kitchen in Reading with a pizza oven and chimney under an oak roof.
It is a roofed oak building, open at the sides, made to house everything you need to cook and eat outdoors. Structurally it is close to a gazebo, but it is planned from the start around a chimney, an oven, worktops and seating rather than just a table.
The roof is the point. With the oven, the cook and the guests all under cover, a wet evening does not send everyone back indoors.
Our outdoor kitchen in Reading sits under an oak roof and is built around a rustic pizza oven with its own chimney. There is room to gather friends and family round the table while the food is cooking, whether that is pizza, steaks on the grill or bread.
The frame was cut and prepared beforehand, and our carpenters had the building up and ready to use in three days on site.
We start with how you want to use it. Where the oven or barbecue goes decides where the chimney comes through the roof, and that needs to be settled before the frame is drawn so the rafters and the flue never clash. Then come the worktops, any sink or fridge, and how many people you want to seat.
Oak and fire can sit together safely as long as the clearances around the flue and the oven are right. We set the frame out to keep timber the proper distance from anything hot, and the mason or installer building the oven works to the same drawing.
The oak frame and roof are ours. An outdoor kitchen usually also needs a base, the masonry for the oven and worktops, and often power or water. If you already have a builder or landscaper for those, we will work alongside them. If you do not, tell us and we will explain what needs to be in place before the frame arrives.
A roofed garden building of this kind is usually treated like any other outbuilding. In England that often means no application is needed in a back garden, provided it is single storey, behind the front of the house and within the height limits, which are lower when the building is within 2 metres of a boundary. A chimney adds height, so it is worth checking the numbers early. Listed buildings and conservation areas have their own rules.
You deal with Tom and Charlie the whole way: the people who design it, make it and fit it. More on how we work.
We visit, measure up and talk through how you want to use the space.
You get a design and a clear quote, and help choosing the oak and the details.
The frame is cut the traditional way, with mortice and tenon joints held by oak pegs.
We bring the finished frame to you and raise it. Smaller frames often go up in a day.
Something we haven't covered? Call us on 07951 041977.
Our outdoor kitchen in Reading, with its pizza oven and chimney, was ready in three days on site. The time depends on the size of the frame and how much masonry there is.
Yes, when it is designed properly. The flue goes through the roof with the correct clearance from the timber, and the frame is set out so no oak sits too close to the oven.
Often, yes. Send us photos and rough measurements of what is there and we will tell you whether an oak frame can be built over it.
We're based in Shropshire and the Worcestershire border and do most of our work across Shropshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Staffordshire and West Midlands. We have also built in Reading and Northumberland, so if you're further afield, ask.
Send us a few details and photos of where it will go. We'll come back with ideas and a clear price.
