RHS Chelsea Flower Show is approaching and Plankbridge will be celebrating the construction of its 700th shepherd's hut by bringing along one of its vintage models, now nearly 10 years old to their display at Stand RA644. It's a 14ft traditionally proportioned model lent by its owners for the show. Features include a double bed, kitchen, and fold-down table/desk.
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Around the country the latest trend in shed-based businesses is Cake Sheds, small, often self-service, wooden sheds/huts which offer homemade baked goods on a commercial but more informal level.
However, local newspapers have been reporting on various issues arising from them in terms of approval/interference from local authorities.
Among these is Bassetlaw District Council in Nottinghamshirehas which has reconsidered its current approach to the licensing of ‘Cake Sheds and Cupboards’ following feedback from residents across the district.
The Council has now paused enforcement of its Street Trader Policy where it specifically relates to ‘Cake Sheds and Cupboards’ while the Licensing Committee considers the wider implications of the policy on potential traders and members of the public.
This means that residents who trade using ‘Cake Sheds and Cupboards’ on their own land will be able to continue to do so without a licence until further notice.
Cllr June Evans, Cabinet Member for Governance, which includes Legal and Licensing, said: “We have seen the public reaction to the introduction of this policy and the impact that it could potentially have on residents who provide ‘cake sheds or cupboards’. We also recognise the community benefit these enterprises can have in some areas.
“Having considered our current approach, we have decided to pause all enforcement action that relates specifically to ‘cake sheds and cupboards’ while this part of the Street Trader Policy can be reviewed by our Licensing Committee, including any fees and charges.
“The Street Trader Policy still remains in place as it guides and licenses other forms of street trading throughout the district. We will also continue to monitor the situation, especially where we receive complaints from members of the public that relate specifically to ‘cake sheds and cupboards’, and where there could be serious concerns raised around their impact on other members of a community, food safety and hygiene, and issues including electrical, gas or fire risks."
Image courtesy of The Cake Place Cake Shed, Dinas Powys, Vale of Glamorgan
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A lovely build by Freddy Tuppen with Willem Hampson and Will Thomson for a garden office in East London which is carefully built around a tree and its roots. Features include ground screw foundations, wood fibre insulation, untreated timber, a clerestory window, large front-facing windows, and a lightwell surrounding the tree. Inside are tailormade furnishings include a Shedworking favourite, a day bed. Lots more atmospheric photos at the link above.
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Oslo's National Museum of Norway's new exhibition - Wenche Selmer: What Can You Live Without? - looks at Norwegian architect Wenche Selmer who cultivated an ideal of a rich life lived with simple means using drawings, notes, photography and a full size cabin.
Running until October 4, the exhibtion concentrates on the Norwegian cabins and wooden houses that Wenche Selmer (1920–1998) designed as part of her approach to architecture; she regarded the cabin as a metaphor for a simple, good life, asking her clients “What can you live without?”.
The museum has made use of the exhibition space's considerable size by installing a full-scale version of Selmer’s prototype Beach house cabin inside the exhibition. Visitors can enter the cabin, go upstairs, and even lie down on the bed.
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Pictured above, the full-scale cabin, photo by Andreas Harvik. Top image: Summer House for Aarnæs (1952) photo by Jens Selmer.
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There's a new RHS judged category at the Malvern Spring Festival this year called Floral Tablescaping. Floral designers have been competing to style the interior of a garden shed with attractive table settings inside, themes including 'woodland restaurant', 'fairytale woodlands' and ';storybook settings'. More images here - the show continues until Sunday.
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A new study from Durham Business School warns that remote working can damage work-life balance, wellbeing, and productivity unless clear boundaries are in place.
It found that interruptions at home - what they call “cross-domain interruptions” such as domestic tasks - can disrupt focus and recommends that people can reduce interruptions by creating a defined workspace, such as a garden office, rather than working from shared areas like the kitchen table. Other suggestions included taking proper breaks to rest and reset, rather than using that time for household chores.
The study analysed daily diary entries from 87 remote workers across sectors including teaching, finance, IT and public administration. The findings reveal a pattern of rising stress and a greater need for recovery when work was interrupted by home life. Workers also reported lower levels of wellbeing. Blurred boundaries also made it harder for employees to switch off at the end of the day.
Image courtesy Smart Modular Buildings
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Shepherd's hut specialist Plankbridge still produce a marvellously elegant shepherd's hut, but in recent years as regular Shedworking readers know the Dorset-based hutters have expanded their offering into other hut-shaped builds such as tack rooms and garden privvies.
This new offering, the Coppice Sauna, comes in at at 2m x 2m, and is clad in black-painted timber (inside it's Scandinavian aspen lining), coming with a large window and glazed door. As you'd expect there is a two-tiered timber seating inside with an 8kw electric stove, a spruce ceiling, and fully insulated 70mm wall cavity to ensure a smashing sauna experiece.
It also comes in an off-grid version, fitted with a wood-fired sauna unit and solar panels. Decking is an optional extra.
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