To celebrate A level results day, here is a 4m x 2m Canopy Room model from Modern Garden Rooms which is used as a den for the Surrey client's teenagers. Features include French doors, two 0.5m sidelights with top opening windows, and a knotty grade cedar cladding on the rear of the building facing against the fence to help keep costs down.
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This is a tremendous summerhouse from Cophenhagen-based SAGA Space Architects (who design some very shedlike space buildings too).
They call it the EcoNeo house and it measures 35 m², catering for a family of 6, and includes this year's must-have shed feature, a sauna. It is made entirely out of biogenic material, with exterior oak shingles cladding, and inside a mixture of plywood, Douglas fir, birch, and OSB panels.
There are lots of eco-friendly elements to the build and some lovely photos of it too (click link above to take a look) but understandably they are particularly proud of its carbon footprint. Here's what they say on the subject:
The average size of a new summerhouse in Denmark is 93.6m², with an average emission of 9.5 kg CO2 per m² per year. By comparison, EcoNeo is only 35m², reducing its overall footprint by approximately 60% through size alone. Combined with its use of biogenic materials, efficient systems, smart environmental controls, and renewable energy support, EcoNeo achieves an estimated footprint of 175 kg CO2 per year, compared to approximately 883.5 kg CO2 per year for an average newly built Danish summerhouse. This represents an estimated reduction of around 80%.
Marvellous photo by Edi Cliff
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A great competition from Arctic Cabins and Cabin Master. To celebrate 10 years of their Nottingham show site, they are offering £10,000 off a garden room or BBQ cabin to one lucky winner in their draw. Simply enter your details to take part, no purchase necessary, and it's free. And you can get bonus entries by visiting the show site and registering with the sales team, and also by buying a cabin. Do check the Ts&Cs but essentially you need to be over 18 and resident in the UK. Entries close August 31.
The marvellous Lire à la Plage scheme which runs along the Seine-Maritime coastline in France is celebrating its 20th anniversary this summer.
Run from 13 blue and white beach huts operate as open air libraries and also include author meet-and-greets, writing workshops, and activities by the sea, this year's theme is 'What were we reading 20 years ago, and what are 20-year-old readers reading today?'
Running until August 23, this year's patron is novelist Katherine Pancol
Rouen is also putting on an open-air photographic exhibition 'Reading at the Beach is 20 Years Old' on the railings of the Departmental Council building until August 21.
The 13 libraries are in Jumièges-Le Mesnil, Criel-sur-Mer, Dieppe, Étretat, Fécamp , Le Havre, Le Tréport, Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, Saint-Valery-en-Caux, Veules-les-Roses, Yport, Saint-Jouin-Bruneval and Sainte-Adresse. They open 11am until 7pm every day, with around 1,000 books per cabin.
Photo courtesy Département de Seine-Maritime
For this week's Finery, a reminder that while the view of your garden through your garden office windows may bring to mind thoughts of hay fields, it will all bloom again. The example here is of a particularly 'bringing the outside in' Cabin Master build.
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After a boom in popularity during Covid, beach hut prices appear to be in freefall, according to new figures from online estate agent Yopa.
Asking prices in eight of the UK's popular coastal counties fell 9.8% in the year to July 2026 according to Yopa, while in the year to July 2025 they saw a 19.6% drop, partly a reaction to an increase in supply.
The figures indicate the worst decline in prices has been in West Sussex, a fall of 35% from £33,044 to £21,444 in the year to July. It is followed by Norfolk (13%), and then
Essex and Hampshire (12%).
Bucking the trend are Suffolk which has seen a rise of 6.6 per cent to £27,676, and Dorset up 2.8% and representing the most expensive available, for example at Mudeford, at an average of £105,343.
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A nice case study on the Plankbridge site all about the shepherd’s hut art studio of Elizabeth Shields in Somerset who specialises in family portraits. Here's a snippet:
It’s exactly the right size. There is generous wall space for paintings, and I love the panelling because it makes hanging work so easy. One whole end is windowed, looking out onto the veranda, so the studio is filled with natural light throughout the day... It is a calming place and it smells amazing. As soon as you walk in it smells like you are ready to work – inviting and comfortable, I really enjoy it, walking up the garden to get there. I always find I have to watch my timekeeping there because I forget what I am meant to be doing elsewhere. The outside world recedes almost immediately.
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