Confluence Fabrication Co. provides an accessible approach to traditional heavy timber construction. We work diligently to maintain the relevance of timber framing in modern life. As craftsmen, this natural material’s warm presence coupled with its quiet strength forever draws us to it.
In this age of automated manufacturing, we continue to offer our customers a product of authenticity, worked by our hands, each and every step of the way. This guarantees a product perfectly tailored to your vision and never too far from Nature.
Confluence Fabrication Co. is committed to craft. From the making of our timber frames to the relationships formed with each customer, integrity and longevity is our constant objective. Dedicated to handwork, we promise timber frames designed with exceeding care and built to a superior quality.
Pittsburgh-born, Ethan Jones-Walker strives to bring his acquired knowledge of timber frame construction back home and promote its vast applicability here.
As a general contractor’s trainee and a truck mechanic’s assistant throughout high school, his career in the trades found solid roots.
His studies at Penn State University and Edinboro University in philosophy, art and furniture awakened his sense of craft and insatiable urge to build.
Following his stint with academia, he dove in deep with Pittsburgh’s premier custom ironwork shop for 2 years. Looking to diversify his skill set and explore the country, Ethan was taken-in by the supportive, far-flung community of practicing timber framers (TFG – Timber Framers Guild) and was schooled by this kindly group for the following 4 years.
With an affinity for weighty materials and intensive processes, Ethan now divides his efforts at Confluence Fabrication Co. between timber framing, his previous craft of ironworking, and administration duties.
Alex Desko has committed the past decade to creating functional beauty. Using woodworking and drawing, he tries to capture the awe-inspiring qualities nature offers by showcasing its raw materials potential in both strength and form. Being raised in the backwoods of Franklin Pennsylvania helped shaped an early curiosity for this aesthetic and the need to carve out small meaningful places amongst the forest to become part of the larger, unceasing conversation.
He attended Edinboro University and received a Bachelor in Fine Arts with concentrations in Drawing and Fine Furniture. This formal education laid the foundation of design and woodworking, which led him to employment at a custom stair shop in Pittsburgh, Pa. Three years of tackling difficult winder and spiral stairs helped to further hone his building methods.
In an attempt to diversify skills, he taught art in Phoenix, Az for two fruitful years. Upon returning to Pittsburgh with a newly acquired tan, dove back into various construction projects, including delving deeply into timber frame construction. He now proudly serves as the other half of Confluence Fabrication Co., as designer and framer.