Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Shedworking in 2015

"I love my commute: I walk 3 metres from my back door into my garden office."
This is how an interesting article on how we'll be working in 2015 starts on Pocket-Lint. Here's a snippet:
I reach out to the cinemascope monitor, which springs into life. It's a single curved unit that presents everything in windows. It fills most of the width of my desk and would be really dominating if it wasn't transparent. The display has its own OS, acting as a bridge between anything you feed in and what you see. I just slide the windows around and bring what I want to the centre, I can zoom, send things right to the peripherals, view what ever I want. It will let me feed in more than one source, so I can be working on different platforms in the same display, which saves a load of time, and I can pull applications off those platforms to work alongside in the display. Last night's Call of Duty: Roman Warfare 2 session is still sitting paused on one side. That'll be a distraction today, for sure.
Worth a browse.
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Walkthrough planning guide for outbuildings (screencast)


Visit the site here. The screencast is best watched full screen.
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Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Garden Room Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here.

The Plant Room

The Plant Room is a marvellous shedlike design project, a prefab room that "bolts-on" to a flat with the aim of "improving the quality of living, reducing energy and water use, and generally making the building more sustainable". According to the designers, it provides hot water and a great growing space for herbs, fruit and vegetables and includes a worm farm, a rainwater tank, outdoor space and an enclosed room. And a rather nice foldout day bed. As they also point out, as well as improving quality of life, it could also be a suitable shedworking solution.

It was entered in the recent Sustainable Habitat Challenge in New Zealand and won a Commendation for Vision. There are lots more renders on the site and lots more details here too.
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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Radio Shedworking (podcast)

Listen!
Music: Agnus Dei from Thomas Tallis' Missa Puer Natis Est Nobis
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Get Outer Space (screencast)


Visit Get Outer Space
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Tuesday posts are sponsored by The Home Office Company, manufacturers of unique garden rooms since 1998. Now in 10 exciting new colours. Click here for more details.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Churchshedworking

There is no end to people's inventiveness when it comes to third place working. Jazz Theologian Robert Gelinas has a fascinating post on his blog about his search for a shedworkinglike spot for working:
There's a beautiful, secluded Catholic church not far from my house that I'm dreaming about. They leave the door unlocked during the day, so I go there often to pray. Lately I've been wondering if they would allow me to hang out there more. There's a bell tower and, while I've never been up there, I'm dreaming that it contains a small little closet space that is just big enough for a table, chair and lamp - it feels right. I called them yesterday and left a message. I'm praying that they can help me with my need for a Third Space.
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Boulton & Paul revolving summerhouse for sale

This is the most excited we've been at Shedworking all year - architectural salvage specialists Mongers have a fully restored Boulton & Paul revolving wooden summerhouse up for sale, of the kind in which George Bernard Shaw wrote his masterworks. This one was built in 1920s and until recently lived in Cringleford, Norwich. Fully restored and repainted, it still has nearly all the original cladding, roof boards, doors, windows and floor. And best of all, the turntable is in full working order and - we're almost drooling here - apparently "turns with a push from a little finger".
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Developer Town: a shedworking approach

Developer Town is a new venture development firm with a remarkable shedworkingesque vision of the best way to work. What they call 'The House Concept' is effectively a garden office in the middle of their office, complete with shingled roof, windows, and its own electrics - they describe it as "our first prototype of an answer to a challenge we’ve been attacking for years: how to create the best working environment for developers? How, we asked, could we create a workspace that grants a developer access to both complete isolation, while allowing instant collaboration? We’d tried all manner of offices and desk arrangements in the past, then thought, why not build everyone their own house? On wheels." Here's a bit more:
As we’ve learned from our prototype house, our first release, working within it does allow one to hunker down and easily tune out the world outside. Total isolation, facilitating concentration and long stretches of focused productivity, is no problem. When the urge to collaborate strikes, you just need to shift your attention out a nearby window or the door, where the rest of the Town awaits. The house comes with ample whiteboard within for internal musings, as well as on the exterior, creating a space to meet, design, and collaborate – especially when coupled with other houses.
The site is well worth a browse to read more on their shedworking thoughts.
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Sunday, March 28, 2010

Elspeth Thompson

We were very sad to hear yesterday that Elspeth Thompson, who wrote about gardening, interiors and green issues, had died (the Telegraph is the first paper to carry her obituary). Elspeth was a good friend to Shedworking and frequently suggested marvellous shedlike atmospheres from around the country: her marvellous converted railway carriage also features in the Shedworking book. Our thoughts are with her family.
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Saturday, March 27, 2010

Dave Eggers: shedworker

Writer and publisher Dave Eggers appears to be a shedworker, according to an interview at The Times-Picayune. Here's what he says about getting rid of distractions in order to write:
Writing is just a constant fight against your own worst habits and procrastination. I think you just have to eliminate as many of the unwanted distractions. Whatever works, whether it's going to a writer's retreat. I've tried everything at this point. Just working out in the shed behind my house, with a door that locks...that seems to work at that point.
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Friday, March 26, 2010

Decorated Shed (screencast)


Visit Decorated Sheds
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Colin Astbury builds his garden office on Twitter

Shedworking reader, engineer and decent DIYer Colin Astbury contacted us a while ago for some advice on garden offices and we're very pleased to see that his shedworking lifestyle is just about to begin: over on Twitter he's putting up photos today of the build which is being carried out by Cabinville. We'll put up a few more here during the day but check Colin's photostream for swifter updates. It's an interesting build as he has an unusual plot to the side of his property which is wedge shaped, 4.3m x 3.9m (at the widest) and 2.7m at the narrowest.
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Shedworking's staff birthday

The Shedworking staff are 41 today so in a fit of wildness we are taking the morning off. Here to keep you busy until this afternoon is how the Shedworking site looks on the marvellous Wordle.
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Friday posts are sponsored by Extraspace, the flat-packed, man-portable expandable garden building experts. Click here for more details

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Shed documentary

In Australia the shed is used to combat loneliness and depression in the older male generation. Sharon Mascall reports for the BBC World Service's The Friday Documentary slot on March 26 (Friday) at 10.05am London time.

O-Pod garden office

Aidan Quinn, the brains behind the Eco Hab, a super efficient dome shaped home, has now developed the O-Pod garden office. Here's what he told Shedworking:
"This is a new cylindrical design for people who require space for an office, studio or workshop in their garden. My product is highly energy efficient, full of natural light (thanks to its transparent ceiling), most often erectable without planning permission and generally a joy to work in."
The O-Pod is a round structure built in a range of diameter sizes (3m, 4m, 5m, 6m and 8m - they can be organised in a satellite formation as pictured above) from coated box section steel frames, tanilised timber uprights, plasterboard, insulation and a breathable membrane with external cladding. Standard exterior finish is cedar shingles or tongue and groove cladding.
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Cartoonist Colin Shelbourn's ideal garden office

As part of the Be My Guest campaign this month which encourages bloggers to guest post on other sites, the marvellous cartoonist Colin Shelbourn and I are swapping posts on the theme of sheds. Here's his on his ideal shed (and here's mine on his):
At present I work from home. A traditional garret has been set aside for my exclusive use so that I can throw ideas and ink around without upsetting the dogs. This is all fine but I'm beginning to outgrow it and beyond these four walls there lies a garden. Over in the corner, just past the compost heap, lies the ideal location for a luxurious shed or garden studio.

In between staring at a plastered wall, trying to think of cartoons, I occasionally doodle plans for my ideal shed. Here are some the requirements I've listed so far. Warm, friendly, plenty of room for books, pads, a computer and a drawing board. And light. Lots and lots of light. For this I need windows and, above all, a window facing north. It's a cliché but all artists like a north-facing window and cartoonists are no exception. You get the best light without all the glare. Wearing sunglasses at the drawing board may be the epitome of cool but they drop off in your coffee.

Matt Pyke: shedworker

Matt Pyke runs his - quite astonishing - virtual, multidisciplinary studio Universal Everything from his garden office in Sheffield (his clients include Apple, Audi and Nokia which underlines the fact that you don't need spectacular offices to be a big player). The shed is the hub of an international collective of artists, designers and general allround creative folk.

Below is a video about Matt and his work when he was an atticworker in his preshedworking days.

Via Better Taste Than Sorry
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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

NASArchitects: barns > offices


A great example of a barn-to-office shedworking conversion by Gower-based chartered architect Neil Spacey of NASArchitects who is keen to achieve serious energy savings and promote environmental awareness in his 'One Stop Shop' design + build service. More examples of his work at his site, including other barns to shedworking spaces.
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Cubes by Atelier 37.2

These marvellous cubist shedworking structures made of plywwood and steel were designed by Atelier 37.2 for Parisian photo studio 'Le Petit Oiseau va sortir'. They house all the hairstyling and makeup bits and bobs plus work as a reception area too.
Via Muuuz. Merci to the chaps at urbanbike for the alert
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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Macquarie Sydney - One Shelley Street


This is a great example of how shedworking concepts can be used in traditional offices, using customised pod spaces to work in. You can see stills instead of the video at the Clive Wilkinson Architects site.
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Cabin

This is a cabin rather than a strictly shedworking space. Isn't it lovely though?
Photographer: Sarah Blee at Office for Word and Image via Pure Kitchen
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Made in a shed: Where to stay guide for Silverstone

The Where to stay guide for Silverstone is a great resource for all those who enjoy F1 Grand Prix, the motorcycling MotoGP and Superbikes as well as other big events such as The Silverstone Classic, track days, and half marathons (and it's also close to the famous market towns of Towcester and Brackley which are well worth a visit).

The site, which also has a presence on Twitter, has been put together by shedworker James Rudd, the mastermind behind hyperlocal news site Towcester News.
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Thatched shepherd's hut

A lovely example of a thatched shepherd's hut on Shiply (and if you can help transport it from Tadley to Tiverton, click on this link).
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