Earlier this summer JF Joinery & JFJ Wood Flooring opened a beautiful new structure built into the hillside at North Molton
JF Joinery & JFJ Wood Flooring, North Molton, are the company behind the development which stretches across approximately 2,600 square metres of land on the South of the Village.
With a family heritage in the industry dating back to 1853, JFJ have occupied premises in North Molton as a wood flooring and joinery company since 2000. Their growth in recent years led them to seek larger premises.
But rather than leave the village and head to a local town, JFJ decided to keep it local. Tom Fanthorpe, 27, is a Director and one half of the father and son team that runs the company:
"From the start, we always wanted to stay in North Molton. We love our village and we think businesses are, and always will be, a great part of a healthy local community," says Tom.
That decision has not been without controversy. In a six-year planning struggle, a number of locals voiced opinions against the new development as they sought to avoid an eye-sore on the edges of the quaint village.
To satisfy the village residents and finalise planning approval, JFJ created something that would seamlessly blend into its surroundings whilst taking full advantage of the breathtaking view of Exmoor. The result is a building that wouldn't be out of place on Channel 4's 'Grand Designs'.
At the back of the building, there is a huge retaining wall standing approx 3.5 metres tall. This reflects the substantial task of excavating the hillside it's built into and is impressive in itself. But the really interesting elements are just in front, in the workshops themselves.
The roof of the building is curved to follow the natural gradient of the hillside and the North and West elevations of the building are clad with Scottish Larch stained dark. The 'barky' colour combined with the smoothly shaped building and surrounding earth bunds creates a structure that blends beautifully into its surroundings.
But what strikes you most when visiting the workshops is the breathtaking view across Exmoor National Park. To make the most of this an L-shaped mezzanine with massive windows to the front was incorporated into the designs and now forms the showrooms. Customers can see the range of flooring in place on the floors beneath their feet, but only if they can drag their eyes away from the panoramic vista!
The rooms are separated by bespoke joinery screens, the walls of the showroom are clad in larch and just next door customers can see the joinery and flooring team at work on the industrious 'shop floor'. It truly feels like a 'woody' place and the smell of sawdust and varnish hangs pleasantly in the air throughout.
The combination of a modern industrial unit and traditional timber finishes has an impressive effect.
John, managing director, commented: "We've come a long way since moving to North Molton in 2000. We now service customers all across the country from our little village and with these new workshops, we've finally got a place that reflects us as a business and our engineered wood flooring. We hope it will help us to grow and in time employ more local people".
The company have been operating from their new building since June 2019 all are welcome to their open day on Friday October 11 between 2pm and 7pm.
To find out more about JFJ wood Flooring visit their website, give them a call on 01598 740 197 or email tom@jfjwoodflooring.co.uk.
