IN Brief:
- Oregon Timber Frame has completed the final phase of a £25m expansion at Selkirk.
- The investment lifts production capacity from 3,500 to 5,000 timber-frame house kits a year.
- The company plans to increase annual capacity to 9,000 kits within two to three years.
Oregon Timber Frame has completed the final phase of a £25m expansion at its Selkirk headquarters, increasing annual production capacity to 5,000 timber-frame house kits.
The Barratt Redrow-owned manufacturer has added a modern office facility for more than 60 permanent staff and completed two factory extensions since being acquired by the housebuilder in 2022.
The north factory extension, which opened in October 2025, increased that building’s floor area by 65% to 69,000 sq ft. The recently completed south factory extension increased its footprint by 50% to 25,000 sq ft, adding further manufacturing capacity at the Scottish Borders site.
Two new automated panel lines have lifted output from 3,500 timber-frame house kits a year to 5,000. Oregon now plans to increase capacity to 9,000 kits annually over the next two to three years.
The expansion is expected to create 50 additional manufacturing roles in Selkirk, alongside up to 30 further support positions as operations grow. Oregon currently employs around 180 people at the site, and production capacity is expected to rise by 43% once recruitment is complete.
Construction of the office and factory extensions was managed by Wilson Bowden Developments, also part of Barratt Redrow, with Luddon Construction acting as principal contractor. Fit-out and machinery installation were managed in-house by Oregon.
The investment strengthens Barratt Redrow’s internal timber-frame capability at a point when major housebuilders are looking for greater control over structural systems, programme certainty, and embodied carbon performance. Scotland already has a mature timber-frame housebuilding market, while adoption in England continues to increase as developers prepare for tighter energy standards and more industrialised construction methods.
Factory-made structural systems offer a route to more consistent quality, lower waste, and reduced exposure to weather disruption. They also shift more value into design coordination and manufacturing planning before site assembly begins. That can improve delivery certainty, but only where design freeze, logistics, installation sequencing, and quality assurance are handled properly.
Oregon’s expansion follows a wider move towards standardised offsite systems across housing. Donaldson Timber Systems has already moved further into that space with a standardised offsite affordable housing range built around its Sigma II closed-panel timber-frame platform. Both developments point to the same direction of travel: timber frame is becoming part of mainstream housing production capacity, rather than a peripheral modern methods of construction option.
Housebuilders are also taking more direct control over critical supply chains. Persimmon has used a similar logic in masonry supply, with its brickworks moving to 24/7 output to support internal demand. Oregon gives Barratt Redrow a comparable strategic advantage in timber frame, linking factory production more closely to the group’s housing pipeline.
Scaling timber frame does not remove pressure from site delivery. Panels still have to be transported, lifted, fixed, inspected, and integrated with foundations, services, fire strategies, acoustic requirements, external walls, and follow-on trades. Faster structural assembly can expose weaknesses elsewhere in the programme if procurement, logistics, and labour planning do not keep pace.
Even so, the case for more factory-led housebuilding capacity has become stronger as labour availability, carbon reporting, energy efficiency, and programme risk place greater pressure on traditional build models. Timber frame can support quicker dry-in periods and improved predictability, while giving developers more control over the quality of the primary structure.
The planned move to 9,000 kits a year suggests Oregon is preparing for sustained demand rather than a temporary uplift. For Barratt Redrow, the expanded Selkirk operation gives the group more capacity to standardise, plan, and manufacture at scale. For the wider market, it reinforces the growing role of production-led construction in housing delivery.
