We are happy to welcome William Woody as Project Designer in the custom design department here at Timber Frame HQ! William has been intrigued by timber framing since his first design job out of college. As he says, “I was instantly drawn to the style and the craft. It brought the best of old and new together unlike any other style of building I knew of.”
William graduated from Walters State Community College with an Associates degree in Industrial technology, with an emphasis in Drafting and Design. He has worked on architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, civil, and plumbing projects, picking up a lot of knowledge along the way from a wide range of sources. William says “One of the best things I have had happen is to come up with an inventive solution to a unique problem. No better feeling in the world.”
We asked William what have been some of his favorite projects to date. He told us about working on a timber frame for an HGTV Dream House series – the contractor needed plans for the timber frame so that he could obtain a permit. As William says, ”I developed a full set of Architectural prints for the project so it could move forward. In the second episode they roll them out on the hood of the contractor’s truck.”
William did the plan development and designed the timber for the structure at the Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center – a post and beam with steel connectors frame. And he designed a large timber frame wedding venue structure for Catalpa Grove at Lakewood Park in Barnesville, PA., complete with 3D model and some awesome virtual walkthroughs .
We asked William what he sees as some as the challenges in designing timber frame homes for people. He says that keeping the big open spaces free from posts in unwanted places is sometimes an issue that requires creative decisions, including using bigger beams. As Williams says, “The most difficult part for customers to understand is that one post is attached to a beam that’s attached to a rafter, plate, or purlin and that it’s holding up the entire roof. So, moving it means something above is going to change as well. Designing things in 3D allows me to see everything all at once. It’s more like modeling clay than just drawing plans, So it gives me the perspective to see those issues early and come up with solutions to those span problems way before a bent is put up on a job site.”
William is excited about joining the design team at Timber Frame HQ. He says, “I’m really looking forward to getting my feet wet. Getting in the trenches and really doing some good work. I love design. It’s a great field and nothing is better than seeing that hard work pay off with a beautiful structure.”
William can be reached at william@timberframehq.com
Welcome aboard, William!
I’m working with William right now on my project, and based on our work to date, he’s in just the right place to thrive.