The Quiet Treehouse

Treehouse specialist Blue Forest hasbeen working with Quiet Mark (the trading arm of the Noise Abatement Society) and John Lewis to develop a tranquil tree-home with next generation sound engineering. The Quiet Treehouse will be unveiled at the Ideal Home Show from 14-30 March 2014 at London’s Earls Court and will be donated for permanent use by Chestnut Treehouse children’s hospice in Sussex and will provide the children and their families with a safe and stimulating environment in which to play, relax and share time together.

Inspired by the shape of a small coppice of trees, three primary trunks support the cocoon-like shedworkingesque structure which is accessed via stairs to the main floor. Its design can actually be installed independently of a host tree.

Andy Payne, Managing Director at Blue Forest, said: “So many temporary structures for shows are designed to only be up for a short while and are then dismantled and the material thrown out which is a tremendous waste. A key challenge of this treehouse project was to design something that could be installed at the Ideal Home Show in only seven days but that would be durable and long-lasting, providing real value for its final home at Chestnut Tree House Hospice.”

Visitors to The Quiet Treehouse will learn about the power of sounds in our homes and lives. The experience will include personal sound-portraits, a Wild Sanctuary animal sound archive and a chance to win an array of Quiet Mark awarded luxury technology products. The treehouse will also be full of the latest quiet gadgets  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Playhouse or garden office?

Ok, technically it is a playhouse in Cape Cod, designed by Boston-based Zero Energy Design but you could work in there too I think. Very happily. ----------------------------------------------------------

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World Book Day...

At the very genuine risk of bandwaggoning... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Homestead Timber Buildings - Manufacturers of Quality Timber Buildings

Ged's Mancave: Getting married at your garden office

"This is my mancave, at the back of a 1930s Mactaggart & Mickel bungalow on Glasgow's south side," writes Ged O'Brien. "The garage was probably a 1940s or 50s addition but it would certainly struggle to cope with anything much beyond a Baby Austin. When we bought the place four years ago I got a joiner to fit it out and that is where my book 'Played in Glasgow' was written.

"I married Diane on the patio in front of the mancave as well. It's amazing how much you can squeeze into a tiny space: an Edwardian writing desk with my iMac and laptop, a two seat sofa for meetings, filing cabinets, pictures and all the books on sport, literature and art that I have collected in my life. Add broadband which I carried out to the mancave via ethernet and we're sound for travelling.

"I did all the work for my MLitt in here and graduated last year. It sits ready and waiting for my return every evening from teaching (which pays the mortgage). None of this would have been possible without my mancave - which is the talk of the south side and the first place everyone wants to see when they visit."

Ged's latest book, Scottish Squash: the First 75 Years, is in the pipeline. ----------------------------------------------------

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Shedworking in Scotland

We've been a bit remiss in not featuring enough garden offfices in Scotland recently, so here's a fine example from the aptly named Logs Cabin Scotland of a nice bespoke solid log cabin they supplied and fitted. It's 70mm log with insulated roof and floor, hidden electrics, mezzanine and store cupboard, plus an air to air heatpump for heating and cooling.

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Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

Do you work in a 'loffice'?

We've come across many different names for garden offices in the last decade, but here's one that's new to us - the 'loffice'. Coined by Alex Hammond of the Sporting Life earlier this month, it actually makes a lot of sense. Here's what he said:

I mentioned this week on Sky Sports News that you never get really testing ground at the Cheltenham Festival. Well, I'm currently sitting in my 'shoffice' (garden shed/office) and as the rain continues to pour down I hope that rare event doesn't come to be. I think I prefer 'loffice' by the way, (log cabin/office) but I don't make these rules!

Which gives us a chance to show a picture of this most loggiest of log cabins again. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Homestead Timber Buildings - Manufacturers of Quality Timber Buildings

Tiny house villages

Tiny homes seems to be the flavour of the year in 2014. Here's an interesting article in Yes magazine by Erika Lundahl suggesting that they can help ease the problem of homelessness. Here's a snippet:

On a Saturday in September, more than 125 volunteers showed up with tools in hand and built six new 16-by-20-foot houses for a group of formerly homeless men. It was the beginning of Second Wind Cottages, a tiny-house village for the chronically homeless in the town of Newfield, N.Y., outside of Ithaca. On January 29, the village officially opened, and its first residents settled in. Each house had cost about $10,000 to build, a fraction of what it would have cost to house the men in a new apartment building. The project is part of a national movement of tiny-house villages, an alternative approach to housing the homeless that's beginning to catch the interest of national advocates and government housing officials alike.

 Well worth a read. ----------------------------------------------------

Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Stable Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here

Beach hut fabric

Dreaming of sunnier days? This 1930s beach-hut fabric from our collections makes us want to head to the beach pic.twitter.com/wLT97oZAwW
— National Trust (@nationaltrust) February 6, 2014

Via Uncle Wilco -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

Click Collection: shedworkers

A nice piece on the Guardian site showcases London-based online charity clothes shop Click Collection with a particularly rewarding quote from managing director David Alder who says: "Our garden shed operation allows us to give exceptional service. Online shoppers expect a 24 hour a day service and that's what we aim to provide.... flexible working, including help from motivated friends, makes our home base the only practical solution to meet our business and fundraising aims." -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.