Friday, October 25, 2013

"Ah, so this is the famous shed. This is where it all happens..."

Posy Simmonds in The Guardian ----------------------------------------------------------
Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

George Clarke's (and Jane Field-Lewis's) Amazing Spaces - the book


A new series of George Clarke's Amazing Spaces starts tonight at 8pm on Channel 4 and it promises to be as intriguing as series one. To coincide with the first programme, Quadrille has also just published a book of the same name written by Mr Clarke and Jane Field-Lewis of My Cool Shed fame which we'd certainly recommend to readers of Shedworking.

Along similar lines to Ruth Slavid's Micro: Very Small Buildings, Sally Coulthard's Shed Chic and Phyllis Richardson's Big Ideas, Small Buildings series, it looks at a very wide variety of microarchitecture including familiar favourites such as beach huts, shepherds' huts, and garden offices (although what they call a 'schoffice' is surely a 'shoffice'?). There are extensive sections too on small buildings on wheels, repurposed and multifunctional spaces, and selfbuilds, and as you would expect it features plenty of examples from both television series in considerable detail.

Although it's not a 'how to' book, there is a huge amount of general and sensible practical advice (a minor quibble, it would have been useful to include some kind of 'where to go for more information' section for books, websites, suppliers, etc) and the standard of colour illustration is very high indeed. Indeed, the inspiring photographs - and there are huge numbers of them - are probably it's biggest selling point - it's easy to see how this would inspire readers to have a go themselves at thinking small. Certainly in the running for a Shedworking 2013 award.

Available from all the usual outlets but we'd encourage you to get it from your local independent seller.
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Homestead Timber Buildings - Manufacturers of Quality Timber Buildings

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Sully Primary School's Dylan Thomas-inspired writing shed


A lovely piece in the Penarth Times looks at the local Sully Primary School's shedworking initiative, a writing shed, pictured above, funded by the school's PTA and officially opened by nine-year-old pupil Christian Morton who came third in BBC Radio 2’s Children’s Story Writing Competition.

The idea for the shed came from teacher Laura Sheldon who showed her class a picture of Dylan Thomas's writing shed and discovered they were inspired to emulate it. According to the newspaper report: "It is hoped that the writing shed will be a quiet place to inspire youngsters to write stories, poems, plays and songs. The writing shed is also full of a range of unique items, including pictures, paintings and a gas lamp, to inspire children in their writing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

Monday, October 21, 2013

How can I bring WiFi to my shed?


It's a question that pops up all the time and this time the fine folk at Engadget are having a go at crowdsourcing the answer. Lots (and lots) of comments and suggestions so if this is something you're thinking about doing, then it's well worth a long browse. We'd also be keen for readers of Shedworking to suggest their solutions below this post. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Amazing Spaces: the soundtrack

The intriguing Amazing Spaces series is back for a second round of microarchitecture musings next Thursday (in the first episode the focus is on a couple transforming a 1960s ambulance into a campervan). To whet your appetite, Jane 'My Cool Shed' Field-Lewis - who is one of the main brains behind the show - put together this rather nice selection of the music the production team listened to as they whizzed around the country looking for shedworkingesque structures. ----------------------------------------------------------
Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Renovated Bletchley Park codebreaking huts get special military intelligence flooring

As regular readers will know, the fine folk at Bletchley Park are doing tremendous restoration work on wooden huts 3 and 6 to prevent these historic buildings from disintegrating due to weather damage and general dampness. “These huts were only put up as temporary structures," says Janie Price, Conservation Architect and partner at Kennedy O’Callaghan Architects, "so they probably would have expected them to be taken down after the war and it is extraordinary that they have lasted as well as they have." As well as a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, they have also received a donation of a major consignment of floorboards from Fawley Court in Henley on Thames which operated as a military intelligence school during World War Two. This means the huts will have like-for-like, proper replacements for those which are unrepairable. Fawley Court has also donated 50 square metres of shiplap boarding for the outside of the huts. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homestead Timber Buildings - Manufacturers of Quality Timber Buildings

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

'Hill of shed workers'

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

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

InsideOut’s Garden Buildings Guide


InsideOut, one of the leading garden office suppliers over the last decade, has decided to move out of the market and concentrate on their architects practice (www.gordonsmitharchitect.co.uk). It's a shame but rather than disappear altogether, they've turned their www.iobuild.co.uk site into an excellent resource for anybody who wants to know more about shedworking and garden offices. It will be updated too by Lynn Fotheringham, editor of InsideOut’s Garden Buildings Guide and a director of Gordon Smith Architect, which is good to hear. Here's Lynn on what she plans to do with it:
"It doesn’t really matter where you work at home as long as you are comfortable and can concentrate. Roald Dahl wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in a draughty summerhouse and Virginia Woolf wrote A Room of One’s Own in a damp outhouse. But if you are going to spend some money on your work space or even invest in a garden office what’s important?

"I don’t think you want your office to catch fire, you don’t want to be cold and you don’t want to be damp. To avoid these less than comfy conditions the basics you need to consider are insulation, windows and doors that fit properly so that no draughts can get in, and preferably double glazed. Cheap and efficient heating and, if you are moving into the garden, an electrical supply that’s been installed by a qualified electrician.

"How do I know these basics? Because I write InsideOut’s Garden Buildings Guide which contains what I learnt during ten years of designing and building garden offices. So, visit the site and share the basics before you decide to build or buy a garden office. InsideOut’s Garden Buildings Guide contains articles on the questions you should ask before you buy, info about planning permission for garden buildings and lots of inspirational photos. If you have any questions about working in a garden office why not email them to Alex at shedworking and I will answer them for you?"
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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

Monday, October 14, 2013

Garden Office Week


It's Garden Office Week over at Judy's great Work From Home Wisdom site. Above is today's offering, Katy Duke's blind-making workshop from where she runs her Thermal Blind Company. It used to be a row of school lavatories... As she says: "It’s fabulous to trip down the path in the sun and open the doors to birdsong, with the salvaged rooflight giving lots of daylight. It’s a bit Heath Robinson but I love it." While you're over there, take a browse around as there are lots of interesting posts in general for those who work in shedlike atmospheres. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Library studio



A lovely combination of shedworking atmosphere and home library in this build by 3rdSpace in the Oxfordshire garden of a professor of literature who needed a space to store her books, but lacked the space inside her home. According to Ben Couture, it is also "fully de-mountable, meaning it can be 'flat-packed' and moved if the customer relocates in the future".

"Most of our modular buildings utilise Western red cedar cladding," says Ben, "but in this case Thermowood was the perfect material which takes well to the matt black finish. We also suggested positioning the cladding vertically to mirror the orientation seen through the spines of the books inside."
The core of the construction is a Douglas fir post and beam system. The installation of the library studio took five days to complete on site, including fitting-out with Vitsoe shelving. ----------------------------------------------------------
Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

How to build a garden office (video)

We haven't had a good time lapse video of a garden office going up for a while so here's a recent one from Smart Garden Offices for Taunton-based Bediwin Information Services who provide local small businesses with dependable computer, IT support and managed services. -----------------------------------------------------
Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Stable Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Harry's Hideout on DIY SOS tonight


Tiny House UK donated one of their marvellous pieces of microarchitecture to a family in Fareham some months ago and the story behind it is due to appear on BBC1's DIY SOS at 8pm tonight. There's a whole microsite devoted to Harry's Hideout and here's the BBC's bumph:
"Hanna and Mike have three kids, two of whom are twins who were born prematurely. One now suffers from cerebral palsy and the other is profoundly deaf. The family house is tiny and the cramped conditions are making life extremely difficult and at times dangerous for the growing boys. Nick Knowles and DIY SOS team call on friends, family and the local community to come to the aid of this young family and build a single storey extension in just nine days." 
Well worth a watch.
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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

Monday, October 07, 2013

Plankbridge expands into Australia

Shepherds' huts specialist Plankbridge is expanding its empire well beyond its Dorset base to include Australia. It will be shipping its new-build huts to Brisbane as part of a joint venture with Steve and Mellissa Chaddock who emigrated from the UK some years ago.

"I really like the idea of shipping corrugated buildings like firms in Bristol did in Victorian era," Plankbridge co-owner Richard Lee told Shedworking. "I love corrugated iron and the idea that orders for our huts in Australia are helping to employ craftsmen in Dorset, just as they did 150 years ago, fills me with huge optimism for the future.!"

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Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Friday, October 04, 2013

Love Your Hut and new Hutters


We mentioned the launch of Love Your Hut – the new specialist insurer for garden offices, beach huts, chalets, shepherds' huts and other shedlike atmospheres – earlier in the week and were pleased to hear that they have already successfully set up a new beach hut association with the 'Hutters' at Heacham Beach, Norfolk. The 101 huts will now benefit from discounted premiums, as well a specialist policy.

Matthew Briggs from Love Your Hut said: “It is great news that Heacham are forming a new association.  We’re really looking forward to working with them and helping them achieve their future goals.  Another association creates another beach hut community and that’s what we want to help do, create more of them.” ----------------------------------------------------------
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Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

Thursday, October 03, 2013

Todd Daniel: shedworker


I have a small house and had two children at home at the time so I couldn't figure out how I'd be able to work from home, writes Shedworking reader Todd Daniel of Powder Springs, Georgia, USA. I did some research on the Internet and found a guy in Louisville, Kentucky, who had built an office shed. I corresponded with him for a while and he was very helpful, and I incorporated some of his ideas.

The shed is in my backyard, 40 feet from the house. It is 12 feet x 15 feet. When we were closing our office, my boss suggested that I take a cubicle with me and set it up inside the shed. This turned out to be a brilliant idea because it helps to dampen outside noise and it holds heat in during the winter. It actually makes my office area quite comfortable.

I work in the shed during the day and in the evening it becomes my "man cave" because my hobby is working on computers. I also like the outdoors and working out in the shed makes me feel closer to nature. I do have my two dogs for company and protection.

I use wi-fi for Internet and I have portable heaters for winter and a small air condition unit for summer. There are two separate power lines -- one for my air condition and heater and one for my computer equipment. I did this to avoid the electrical surges that the a/c and heater would have on my electronics.

At the time I was finishing out the inside, my boss sent a professional out to inspect it. Both he and the fellow in Louisville recommended something very important - a fart fan. In addition to its obvious purpose, I also use the fan in the spring and fall to suck out warm air and get the temperature down a few degrees. Thus, I only need to use my a/c in the heart of summer.

It's nice walking 40 feet to work every morning, and the only occupational hazard is stepping on dog poop.

More photographs of Todd's garden office are on his Flickr site ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homestead Timber Buildings - Manufacturers of Quality Timber Buildings