Fluid Habitation - Andrew Maynard

Andrew Maynard's rather nice Tattoo House extension is doing a virtual lap of honour around the interweb at the moment (I particularly like the garden-type window UV stickers - scroll down to the end of the post for a photo). But he also has some interesting thoughts about homeworking and I like the look of the shedlike Fluid Habitation pictured above."There is a contemporary shift in architecture toward the fluid, toward the impermanent, toward the adaptable," says Maynard. "These impermanent spaces are empowering by their very nature. Impermanency is proactive, subversive and empowering to the individual." He continues:

"The modern home does not reflect our modern life style in many ways. Our life consists of dynamic systems of media, information, technology and transport. These elements continually shape our epoch and define it as an era of loose foundations and shifting meaning. Our homes do not reflect this. They contain a variety of products that enhance our lifestyle through their flexibility, fluidity and malleability. Yet our direct living environment remains a static one. Fixed and rigid, it conforms us to a static ideology and does not allow us to easily adapt and evolve our behaviour, relationships, circumstances and lifestyle."

And so his suggestions is fluid habitation, which allows people to reinvent their living space and turn it into a truly bespoke home. So as well as wellknown devices such as intelligent glass, Maynard has come up with the idea of not only a mobile bedroom, but also a mobile office. Here's how he describes it:

"The mobile office is a flexible office space providing the family with a simple and adaptable environment to work and study. The mobile office is a hybrid structure, incorporating an adaptable, tectonic solution with contemporary screen technology. The office is a digitised 'jack' to the world, providing the family with a contemporary means and expression of their connection to the world and their freedom to information. One could imagine that as the make up of the family changes over time that simple, free standing elements such as the mobile office could be added to suit the shifting needs of the family."

Well worth a browse.

Le Cabanon - the future of shedworking

A lovely little structure and very much the future of shedworking by Cyril Brulé of atelier Correia called Le Cabanon in Villiers-en-Morvan, France: it's just 20m2 and Cyril lives and works in it. The Cabanon has all kinds of nice elements - Northern Fir siding, duck feather insulation, an interior lined with formaldehyde-free OSB panels; a rubber floor and an Ikea kitchen.
Via shed champion Justin at materialicious where you'll find lots more interesting pictures including this one below of the interior.

N55's walking (shed)house

How would you like a shedlike atmosphere which walks? Those inventive folk at N55 have indeed been working on just such a prototype design in a project for the Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridgeshire. Inspired by gypsy caravans, the Walking House is a modular dwelling system which allows you to shedwork (or indeed live) nomadically with little environmental impact: energy is collected via solar cells and small windmills and a small greenhouse module can be added. And not only can it collect rainwater, it's amphibious. The framework is made of steel, aluminium or wood with windows of polycarbonate.I'm not entirely sure about the next bit: there are six legs and they can be worked so that while it moves (slowly, at the pace of a human step), three legs are on the ground at the same time. The idea is a collaboration with a group of travellers in the Cambridge area. Here's what N55 say:

"The Walking House requires no permanent use of land and thereby challenges ownership of land and suggests that all land should be accessible for all persons. Society could administrate rights to use land for various forms of production of food for example, but ownership of land should be abolished.
N55 furthermore suggest that WALKING HOUSES should be owned by all persons in common and used by the persons wanting to live in them."

Portable Globe House

From Science and Mechanics via the excellent Modern Mechanix blog of January 1961, this is the future of shedworking, the Portable Globe House for Well-Rounded Living, called the Kugelhaus. As writer Wayne Wille says, it is just 15ft in diameter, very convenient, and can be delivered by helicopter. He continues:

"Its eggshell-like construction is of either lightweight reinforced concrete, metal or plastic. Just one inch of concrete gives good results, says the inventor, Dr. Johann Ludowici. The house can be completely assembled in the factory—with whatever furniture or other equipment is wanted—before delivery. As portable as a house could be, it can be flown to wherever you want it by helicopter, towed in by boat (it floats), or, more conventionally, carried on a truck."

Apparently, it was commissioned by the Belgian government which wanted a comfortable low-cost small house which could be towed up rivers or flown into remote regions of Africa for use as worker housing.
Via the always intriguing Shed and Shelter

Hotel Everland

Hotel Everland would be a wonderful place for some shedworking. The design comes from Swiss installationists L/B (Sabina Lang and Daniel Baumann). Essentially it's a one-room hotel/shedworking atmosphere which includes a bathroom, a double bed and a sitting room. You can only book it for one night only and it will be on the roof of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris following an exhausting world tour until the end of 2008. The site is well worth a browse, full of videos, information and a nice webcam. A book on the project is out soon.
Via the increasingly trendy Uncle Wilco at shedblog

Dystopic Horizons Realty

Is this the future of shedworking? Dystopic Horizons Realty provide what they call 'affordable "near loft" like Artist Housing' in San Francisco at unbelievably cheap prices. Here's how they describe their models:

"Each inspired live/work unit is hand-crafted, and capable of magnificent views. The loft-like Cubist floorplan allows convenient interior access and customized storage solutions. Green construction and copious natural lighting and ventilation support ecologically responsible living. It's not a cardboard house... it's a cardboard home."

They list the following as benefits:
* Cutting edge deployable architecture
* Passive heating and cooling systems
* Basic model allows for minor and major renovation options
* "Loft-like" O.I.F.P. (Open Interior Floor Plan)
* Zero financing
Pictured below are some of their operatives searching out similar shedworking atmospheres. Curbed SF has some more details here. Thanks to Liz Jones for the alert.

Mobile Hermitage

We've posted before about Jay Schafer's marvellous small houses. Here's an example of one in situ, the Mobile Hermitage, a freestanding movable miniature house that operates entirely from battery power, owned by Gregory Johnson (no relation) who uses it as the HQ for Resources for Life. He writes:

"Despite its name, the Mobile Hermitage is designed to be part of a community of tiny houses. Interdependent freestanding small houses are very economical to build and maintain. By sharing common resources such as laundry, lavatory facilities, bath house, large kitchen, and activity center, a greater sense of community is established, and significant savings can be achieved."

Click here to go to Gregory's interesting site.
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via FoxyTunes

Leigh Brooks - revolving shed design

During the summer we reported on the Line of Site's Spot Brief competition to design a garden shed with a difference. One of our favourites was the revolving shell shed from Leigh Brooks from Brooks and Ware architects. If you click on the image above you'll see a short animation of how this would work in practice. Here's what Leigh told Shedworking about the design:

"The overall concept was driven by the need to provide both a secure environment coupled with the need to provide varying degrees of views out. The rotation idea came from a study of the circular rotating driveway turntables that are now readily available within a sensible price range that allow you to turn your car around 360 degrees on the spot with the push of a hand."

Oculas - luxury pod

The Oculas is a project developed by designer Lee McCormack, collaborating with the McLaren Formula One racing team. It's a kind of isolation pod inside which you can work, listen to music or have a nap with lots of superduper gadgets (electronic door that closes silently by touch, red leather upholstery, massage chair, wi-fi interactive touch screen, etc - Oculas calls it a 'womb-like interior'). And it's certainly a shedworking atmosphere. Here's how they describe it:

"Designed as a solution to define boundaries between work and leisure the OV2 encapsulates this ethos as it can operate efficiently as both a work and entertainment module, effortlessly switching between both functions. Whether it's being used for marketing, immersive branding, conferencing, purchasing, downloading, gaming, music, film, relaxation, meditation or simply escaping from the outside world it's your choice."

There's a great picture gallery here. Um, it costs $45,000.

Via Land+Living. Thanks to Anne at My Urban Garden Deco Guide for the alert.

Sustain MiniHome - future of shedworking

The Sustain MiniHome comes very much under the category of the future of shedworking (an architect friend told me he thought it was the "best shed in the world").
Essentially, it's a very eco-friendly prefab minihome which is available on wheels for extra mobility. It's quite compact which is not to everybody's taste (see the comments and discussion on this post at inhabitat) and there are several pieces about it on treehugger which lists the MiniHome's many, many green credentials. There are lots of excellent pictures on the Sustain site and a genuinely useful FAQ. Below is a video which shows off the MiniHome nicely.

Portable architecture

An interesting article in The Guardian by Steve Rose looks at the rise of shedlike atmospheres or as he calls them "space-age cubes, rooftop pods, giant caravan cities and garden sheds you can practically live in". The piece features various shedworking favourites including the m-ch, Nils Moormann's Walden and the Loftcube, not to mention the Airstream. Rose comments that these buildings "suggest a shift in the relationship between architecture and nature, a renegotiation between the space we enclose for ourselves and the "outside"." He goes on to say:

"The trend towards mobile, lightweight, eco-friendly lifestyles is growing. Californian architect and academic Jennifer Siegal has even coined a term to sum it up: new nomadism. Architecture is currently one step behind, she says: "We're working and living in a very different way, and yet our buildings have remained static, heavy structures. Our cars are smart, our clothing is smart, our materials are smart and our buildings are still these heavy boxes."

Well worth a browse.

Colani Rotor House

Another example of how garden offices and homes might eventually meld together is the Colani Rotor House from Luigi Colani and Hanse Haus. In a small area just 36 m², they've fitted in various areas (kitchen, living room, bathroom) using a rotating system, a kind of cross between George Bernard Shaw's writing hut and a lazy susan.

micro compact home

Another look into the future of shedworking with the micro compact home [m-ch] from architect Richard Horden. It's a lightweight compact building, a 2.6m cube, in which you can live as well as work. It has a timber frame structure with anodised aluminium external cladding, insulated with polyurethane and fitted with aluminium frame double glazed windows. A eco-friendly version is available powered by pv solar cells and a small wind generator mounted on the roof. Inside are two beds, shower and a kitchen. The design has various inspirations including a Japanese tea-house. For more information, go to the interesting site here.

Michelle Kaufmann's Breezehouse

Michelle Kaufman is a big name in the world of green prefab building in the US. While none of her projects could be described as garden offices, her work does blur the boundaries of home and garden. For example, her Sunset Breezehouse (pictured) is built around a series of courtyards and private gardens for every major room. So while it's not exactly shedworking, it's maybe the next evolutionary step. You can find out all about her various interesting projects at her excellent and informative website here.

Choosing a shed - Eco-pod (web site updated)

We've talked about crossover sheds before on the site, but here's an example of something which is more at the home end of the scale rather than the potting shed. The Eco Pod, which has been on show this week at the National Homebuilding and Renovating Show in Birmingham, can be used as a home but also as office space and is built using polyurethane panels in segments (80mm or 100mm thick). This shell is then bolted to a lightweight reinforced concrete floor with underfloor heating incorporated. As well as a 'normal' model with mains electrics, water, etc, there is an off-grid model which comes with wind turbine, solar and PV panels, a dry toilet and waste recycling facility. Eco-pods are available in two models but it's the Eco-Pod 4 which is probably best suited to shedworking, 4mx6.5m (including 1m high basement) and it comes with a kitchen, living room and bathroom with a bedroom on the first floor.

Crossover sheds - Walden and Futureshed

Most garden offices also carry more than a whiff of the potting shed about them (paint pots and seedlings are as much in evidence in mine as modems and laptops). But some are whiffier than others. The Walden for example, which is made from spruce and larch and named after Henry David Thoreau's famous walk in the wild. Designed by Nils Holger Moormann it has plenty of storage space for gardening tools, firewood, birdhouse and even a 'swinging cauldron' (I've always wanted one of those), but there's also plenty of room inside the cabin structure and even an upper level.

More shed than garden office, but also a look to the future, is the aptly-named FutureShed from the eco-friendly designers Serge de Gheldere and Francis Vanhoonacker of Futureproof/ed. Not only is the wood toxin-free and earth-friendly, but the designers say they have: "aimed for a striking but serene form so that you won’t want to hide this shed in the back of your yard." Which means an interesting translucent roof structure, sliding doors and a general feeling of space. There are lots of interesting photos and a video on the site so you can nose around.

Choosing a shed - Spacebox

If you liked the post last week about the perrinepod, I think you'll also enjoy Spacebox. Again, it can be both low-cost living as well as working space, and again it's essentially modular (you don't have to have as many as are pictured here). It's made of high-grade composite materials designed by Mart de Jong of design office De Vijf in Rotterdam. The smallest studio unit is 18 metres squared and can be linked to other 'pods' to create extra bedroom or living space. Each studio contains a kitchen, shower-room/lavatory plus running water, electricity, sewerage and telephone connections. The Spacebox has been around since 2001 and is becoming increasingly international with a UK supplier now too.

Home office pod

Although it's really designed as a living space, the marvellous Perrinepod by Australian Jean-mic Perrine, can also be used as a garden office, and since it's stackable, you can even have several stories. "The perrinepod is very functional, very sexy, very simple, with the form of the spaces inside following the function," says Perrine. It's made from aerated, polished, concrete with a bit of aluminium and glass and can be built in a day. Naturally it comes with all electrics and plumbing as standard. Although it comes in three sizes, the most suitable for a home office is the 8m x 6m version. There's an in-depth feature on Perrine at the News.com.au site here.

Tiny houses

We've covered the subject of tiny houses before here and in The Shed magazine, but no apologies for including this marvellous slideshow from the New York Times on the subject which also touches on the increasing interest in pre-fab buildings in the US, something we still haven't really cottoned on to over here in the UK.

Loftcube

Finally, there’s the spectacular Loftcube designed by Werner Aisslinger which is simply helicoptered onto your roof. It’s a combination of glass and wood blinds over a 36 square metre interior to create a skyscraping rooftop office. Aisslinger calls it a temporary minimilistic domicile for urban nomads making up a sort of cosmic rooftop community i.e. a shed on the roof.