The Shedworking staff has scarpered to the beach for a few days rest, relaxation, and rereading of The Philosophy of Sheds, published by the British Library and available at all good bookshops. See you again next week.
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A nice story about the importance of sheds to a happy life written by my former colleague from Yorkshire Evening Press days Helen Rowe now at AFP press agency gives my latest book The Philosophy of Sheds a nice name check with some quotes by me about the joy of sheds - the piece has been published all over the world including Malaysia and Luxembourg. You can try it in English here https://www.yahoo.com/.../british-eccentrics-push-humble... or in French here https://www.laprovence.com/.../royaume-uni-loin-de-la...
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This week's finery was the marvellous Hipped Garden Studio from Malvern Garden Buildings that appeared last month at the inaugural RHS Flower Show at Sandringham in The Thomas Gainsborough Garden designed by Frederic Whyte.
This was built as a north-facing artist's studio and finished in a gentle green-grey shade with a soft yellow interior that was very simply furnished, and also featured specially commissioned diptych paintings by artist Kate Giles celebrating the garden as well as handcrafted furniture by Otis of O B Luxton.
You can see it in the excellent video below from about the 14:50 mark, but look out also for the excellent shedlike atmospheres featured in the show too in the other gardens.
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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
