Timber Cladding Design Ideas for Your Self Build or Extension Project

Contemporary SIPs Home with Angular Timber Cladding

Winner of the 2024 Build It Award for Best SIPs Home, this low-energy self build by Sketch Architects replaces a poorly-built 1960s house. The owners were after a large, light-filled kitchen at the centre of the scheme, with a flexible floorplan to support the family’s evolving needs.

Photo: Billy Bolton

The finished house features a stepped gable design, which delivers plenty of extra space compared to the original building. SIPs helped to maximise usable floorspace on the top storey, with the pre-insulated panels and a dormer addition enabling secondary living areas in the roof. The exterior has been finished with a blend of zinc and timber cladding, laid in different angles to create a striking finish. 

Modern Timber-Clad Garage with Hidden Doors

Designed by Rixon Architects, Suzie and Sam Andrews’ new, energy-efficient home features a detached garage at the rear of the property’s driveway – tucked away from the roadside.

Photo: Adam Carter

The garage has been finished with Vastern Timber‘s Siberian Larch timber cladding to complement details found on the home’s picture window and veranda. This consistent finish allows the doors to be cleverly concealed for a sleek, clean look. 

House Extension finished with Durable Timber Cladding

Studio CBD designed this modern extension for an 1870s house in Hertfordshire, enhancing the property’s access to daylight and the garden area. The addition was designed to sit harmoniously alongside the original house.

Photo: Adam Carter

The exterior features Millworks‘ Brushed ThermoWood Pine, treated with Millcoat Charcoal Black, which calls back to the existing dark boarding on the oldest parts of the house.

Scandi-Style Timber-Clad Log Home

This Scandinavian-style log home by Orme Architecture and Honka Fusion has been completed with a blend of Vastern’s Brimstone heat-treated poplar timber cladding and Equitone’s fibre cement cladding to create an efficient and robust finish that will age well.

Photo: Nina Dodd

Listed Building Upgraded with Oak Cladding

Theis and Khan architects revived a collection of outbuildings ancillary to a grade II listed farmhouse, positioned in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Stylish and durable oak cladding helps to ensure the converted home retains an authentic character.

Photo: Nick Kane

Natural Look Timber Cladding Design

This cubic, Bauhaus-inspired home by Baufritz has been finished with a “Scala” wooden facade. The organic finish – that has deliberately been left in its natural state – helps the property to blend seamlessly with the woodland surroundings. In accordance with the Baufritz principle, only biologically sound materials and healthy building materials were used.

Dark Timber Cladding for a Woodland Home

Accoya supplied the timber cladding for this woodland home. Complete with three durable yet rustic finishes, the knot-free, low-maintenance and sustainable dark wood helps blend the property with its surroundings.

Rural Barn-Style Home Finished with Siberian Larch Timber Cladding

Fiddes Architects finished this contemporary timber frame home with Russwood’s sleek Siberian larch cladding to echo the design of their clients’ previous granite farm house.

Photo: David Barbour

Contemporary Addition with a Charred Timber Cladding Finish

Paul Archer Design devised an impressive multi-storey rear extension and complete refurbishment of this family home in Hackney. Local planning stipulations limited how much the extension could protrude from the property’s original footprint, so the internal spaces have been thoughtfully maximised with an open-plan layout that priorities daylight.

Photo: Jonathan Gooch

The house has been extended with three distinctive, cubic volumes. This design offers a clear visual separation between old and new, with the original home’s Edwardian architecture now set against a contemporary charred timber-clad facade.

Cottage Renovation with a Timber Cladding & Render Blend

Carbon by Design supplied the charred larch cladding for this extension to an 18th-century cottage in Warwickshire. Larch is a hardwearing, low-maintenance cladding option – providing a naturally textured finish that complements the main house’s period character.

Photo: William Goddard

Timber Frame Self Build with a Sensitive Cladding Design

This home designed by Cameron Webster Architects is nestled perfectly among the Trossachs National Park woodland. The irregular shape gives the property its striking angular look and is cleverly orientated with wide glazing and a balcony to maximise the surrounding views.

Photo: Douglas Gibbs

The exterior of the property has been completed using Sarking timber cladding, a softwood commonly used for fencing and in agricultural structures, and coated in a Teknos finish for durability. The material is considered a low-grade timber, but the couple liked the rough surface texture as it helped the property to strike a better balance with its surroundings.

House Extension with an Eye-Catching Timber-Clad Exterior

Luke Young of Young and Co Architects was tasked with renovating this elegant Edwardian home in Camden, London.

The focal point of the renovation was Vastern’s Brimstone sycamore cladding, fitted in a herringbone pattern that makes a contemporary addition to the period structure.

Countryside Home with a Timber Cladding Blend

Freddie and Katie Pack saved up to build this contemporary and efficient house on their family’s Romney Marsh farm after living in a small cabin a few fields away. They set out to renovate an existing 1950s brick house on the plot, but soon realised it would be easier to knock down and self build a new home, enlisting RX Architects to help them recreate the farm-style design with a modern twist.

Photo: Richard Gadsby

The sophisticated new property is clad in Siberian larch, with charred sections on the lower level. “I was used to working with larch and we went for shadow gaps rather than rebating. We had to put a black felt wrap on the exterior, followed by batons, a double skin of UV facade felt and then the cladding,” says Freddie.

FAQs

Rich Rose Rich Rose, sales and project development advisor at Russwood, shares his expertise on specifying your ideal timber cladding. Russwood are timber specialists, supplying sustainable, high-quality flooring, cladding, decking, interior cladding and fixings.

When should you start thinking about your cladding during a project?

The sooner the better. Begin by asking yourself some questions to help guide your choice. Do you want sharp, clean lines or a more rustic appearance? Do you prefer a coloured finish or a natural look? Will horizontal or vertical boards look best? Once you know the look you want to achieve, it’s easier to narrow down your options. We also recommend taking a look at a selection of real-life projects to help with inspiration.

What are the key factors to bear in mind when specifying timber cladding?

Start by exploring which wood species is best suited to your location, aesthetic aspirations, property profile and budget. It’s also vital to investigate the sustainability credentials of your chosen material – all of our timber is FSC or PEFC approved, meaning it is sourced from responsibly managed forests.

On a practical level, a well-ventilated structure increases the lifespan of cladding by allowing the timber to dry out quickly and completely in between spells of rain. Poorly ventilated boards on the other hand, can swell, cup or twist and push against each other causing them to lift and ultimately fail. Plus, improper detailing can lead to a range of issues, from unsightly blemishes to structural damage such as rot.

How is timber cladding installed?

Proper installation is fundamental to performance, longevity and appearance. The process involves fixing the cladding boards to battens, which are attached to the wall. Russwood battening systems offers a non-toxic, chemical free solution, making them an environmentally friendly alternative to standard softwood versions, which include preservatives. We always recommend using stainless steel screws for effective and neat detailing. Kompefix reduces wood to wood contact and allows additional ventilation, plus some flexibility for any seasonal movement.

How versatile is timber cladding?

Timber cladding offers exceptional design flexibility to suit a range of property styles and locations. It’s traditionally installed horizontally, but we have seen an increase in vertical arrangements, and even some diagonal. You can also add visual interest by introducing mixed widths or thicknesses. A recent trend we’ve noticed is for two tone cladding, mixing coated timber in different colours, or choosing to have some areas left uncoated to weather naturally. Black cladding with our contrasting SiOO:X mid grey has proven popular.

What do I need to consider when budgeting for timber cladding?

Your budget will depend on a few varying factors, such as species choice – a clear grade timber will cost more; surface finish – embossing, brushed or Microtex are extra processes that can alter the aesthetics or improve coating performance; arrangement – secret fix overlapping boards, mixed width, open rainscreen or larger fin sections; coatings such as SiOO:X, WOCA oil or Teknos will incur additional costs. It’s important to also consider the cost of the maintenance for reapplication, if any, as well as added extras, such as fire retardant-treatments, if required.