Shedworking: what do YOU want to see in 2011?

As we enter the last furlong of 2010, we wanted to ask you, the readers, what you'd like to see more of (and less of) on the Shedworking site in 2011? Is there something we're not doing or something we're doing too much? Are there topics we've left uncovered? How can we be better and make it a more interesting daily read? Is there anything away from the main site that you'd like us to get involved in? Please do add all your views and comments below.
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Forest library shedworking

A lovely design by architects Gluck Partners, a private library and study area in the woods in upstate New York specialising in Japanese culture. There are now windows, simply sliding glass doors in the 20ft x 20ft shedworking structure. Gluck told Architectural Record that the space, which is for his wife Carol, was perfect and that she spent all day in there: "She gets more done in there than anywhere else."
Via Tiny House Design
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Folle/Folly

Folly by Philipp Baumhauer from Julien Lanoo on Vimeo.

This German shedworkingesque folly by architects Baumhauer would actually make a lovely spot in which to work (it was indeed originally planned to be a teahouse). It is clad in larch with stainless steel shutters.
Slideshow by photographer Julien Lanoo, via dezeen.
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Eethuis: edible garden shed

Feeling peckish while you're working? Fancy a quick and healthy snack? Then reach out and take a bite out of the wall. That's the future of shedworking as envisaged by architects Marijke Bruinsma with Marjan van Capelle and Arjen de Groot (Atelier GRAS!) whose awardwinning Eethuis offers just that possiblity (during the summer at the very least). It's a prefab modular build of plastic crates and scaffolding and while you might not want to go the whole hog and build your entire garden office using them, you could try it up on your roof.
Via archdaily. Photos by de Stuurlui stedenbouw & Atelier GRAS!
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The Modern Studio

The Modern Studio by Lindal Cedar Homes is a backyard shedworking atmosphere: Lindal are a major manufacturer of cedar homes and have built more than 50,000 around the globe.
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Mountain Lodge: shepherd's hut holidays

If your thoughts are already turning towards holidays, consider a shepherd's hut break in Wales at Mountain Lodge. It's close to historic Gwrych Castle gothic folly, near an Iron Age fort and has smashing views of the Carneddau mountain range. The hut itself is insulated, simply but comfortably furnished (including a double bed) with a woodburner - a heated shower room with lavatory, washbasin and shower is close to the hut. An added bonus is no television. The hut was build by Plankbridge and was briefly set up at River Cottage HQ.
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Merry Christmas to all our readers

“Yo ho, my boys,” said Fezziwig. “No more work to-night. Christmas Eve, Dick. Christmas, Ebenezer. Let’s have the shutters up,” cried old Fezziwig, with a sharp clap of his hands, “before a man can say Jack Robinson.”

Shutters open again on December 27.
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Shedworking Awards 2010

It's that time of the year again when we present the annual Shedworking Awards (actually, this is the first time we've done it but it'll be annual from now on). There have been so many intriguing posts and builds and blogs and photos and tweets and comments over the last year that it's really hard to narrow them all down. Thanks too to everybody who got in touch via Twitter to 'vote' for the Readers' Award. And so without further ado, onto the opening of the envelopes...

Best design - In a year when we saw a lot of intriguing round/egg-shaped designs, the award goes to a shedlike atmosphere with lots of pointy bits, the Hickshaw by Derek Diedricksen. There's a lot to like about the Hickshaw: it's made from recycled building materials, it's very mobile and it's a genuine labour of love.

Best blog/web site Again, fierce competition in this category. Honourable mentions to Workalicious and A Place Imagined and to the always intelligent Lloyd Alter at Treehugger but the one blog that has impressed us in particular is Kent Griswold's Tiny House Blog which has consistently brought interesting builds to a wider audience as well as championing the importance of living and working in small spaces.

Best use of Facebook – Shedworkers and garden office builders are becoming much more savvy about the use of social media sites, though many could do much, much more. We thought Atelier and Irish Wood Style both did a good job on FB this year but the award goes to Historic Shed who as well as using it as a showcase for their own work also pointed fans of the page to other relevant sites of interest on the interwebs


Best Tweeter – Not many people tweet regularly about their garden office. Fiona Gilsenan is an exception, using the #shedworking hash tag more than anybody (including Shedworking itself!) and also charting the ups and downs of life as a shedworker. A very worthy winner.

Best popularisation of shedworking – The V&A's 1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces exhibition brought home to thousands of visitors that small is good and they also put together a cracking website to accompany it. A thoughtful and cleverly curated show

Readers' Award - We asked Shedworking's followers on Twitter and Facebook what they most enjoyed reading/seeing this year and the winner by some margin was our research revealing the £6.1bn which shedworkers contribute to the UK economy

Lifetime achievement award – It's impossible to overestimate how much Uncle Wilco has done to popularise back garden microarchitecture, in particular in the UK but increasingly across the entire planet. Shed of the Year is now a major event covered by the world's media and readersheds.co.uk continues to move onwards and upwards, not forgetting the Flickr site too. And he's a decent chap. Take a bow.

And for you stat fanatics, the three most popular posts of 2010 (by pageviews) were:
1) Phone book shed - 3,626
2) Neil Gaiman: shedworker - 3,469
3) Launch of Irish Men's Sheds Forum - 1,002
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Writer's hut

A lovely painting by Tim Millen.
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Hut 2.1

Ryo Chijiiwa left his job as a software engineer at Google last year and went travelling before buying 60 acres of vacant undeveloped land in Northern California which he has named Serenity Valley. He's now living there entirely off grid and has been building huts...


You can read all about his Walden-like experience at his intriguing blog (all the hut stuff is here but do look at the rest too). Most recently he has been writing about insulation. There's also a good Facebook page about his projects.

Via Irish Wood Style
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How Shedworking looked in 2010

Via Wordle
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Denise Ward: shedworking toastmaster

St Albans-based Toastmaster Denise Ward is a very happy shedworker as she explains in this guest post:

"I like the fact that my shed feels like home away from home, especially on the Saturday mornings when my daughter and I go down there and watch BBC iplayer while we wait for dearest hubby to bring us eggs with soldiers and orange juice. It’s the nearest we get to a hotel with room service.

"I love shedworking because it allows me the space to think and be creative and it’s my space that people only enter when invited. I can keep it as tidy or untidy as I wish and leave confidential papers in it. It is also good to separate my work from home so when I go there I switch off from home and when I leave I can get on with home life. It makes me more focused. I found that with studying and also having to keep a lot of paperwork as a Toastmaster I needed more room. My husband and daughter are very good at conversation and this can sometimes interrupt my flow.

"We employed Karl and his team to make the room. The features that make this special are that it has a bed so I can sleep there or put up guests there. It is good quality timber framed with plasterboard wall and double glazing.

"I had toyed with idea of having a shepherd's hut or buying a home office from a garden centre. But the more I looked into it I realised that I would still need to factor in transport, electricity, insulation and the hard standing to put it on. One of the largest issues for us was that any site would be needed to be built in situ and that access was a bit of an issue as large trucks would not be able to get into our drive. The job cost £7,000 and was completed very neatly. We had the foresight to have lighting that is movement sensitive. We had to alter these because they kept getting triggered by the deer and foxes in the garden.

"My only regret is that we did not have the garden path altered to take this new room into account. In summer it is not a problem but when I go to the room in the snow and in the rain, I have problems with the grass parts I have walk on. I am waiting for a garden designer to plan my garden at present. I think with all these things one should make a considered plan so that the job is not a rush. I changed my mind so many times and then came up with ideal plan for me."

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Heather Bestel - shedworking tip of the month

This month, Shedworking's Calm Editor Heather Bestel says keep warm and carry on...

Shedworkers up and down the country will be celebrating more than Christmas this week!

If you were ever regretting leaving the conventional office environment for a more isolated one at home, then you will be so glad you did this month as the onslaught of snow and ice brought the rest of the country to a standstill.

A 60 second morning commute instead of hours on an icy, miserable train. Working happily away, safe in the knowledge that the journey home will be a pleasant stride across a crisp white garden, rather than the worry of being trapped for hours on an impassable motorway.

So, take time this month to appreciate the lifestyle you have created and give a little thought to those ex colleagues who weren’t so fortunate.

Keep warm & Merry Christmas x

More stressbusting advice from Heather at her site here.
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Shedworking on your mobile

Our mobile site has had a mini-makeover so you can enjoy your daily dose of shedworking from your mobile device that little bit more. Simply go to www.shedworking.co.uk as usual and Robert's your avuncular relation.
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Minimalist shedworking: satellite dish gazebo

Gazebo made from recycled satellite dish. This piece was meant to be a statement about the fad-like addiction to technology, without considering all the ramifications and the waste component, that we as humans seem especially vulnerable to.

By Stephen Fitzgerald via materialicious
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Garden offices beating the snow

Despite the wintry weather, garden office building continues apace. Here are two builds which we've been tweeting about a lot over recent weeks but not really covered on this site. Right at the top is Daryl Willcox's new garden office, just about to have its second fit electrics and then be decorated, while underneath is Triston Wallace's which is now all ready to go.

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How shedworking can help the NHS

The beauty of a garden office is that it can be put to a wide range of uses. The Garden Escape has been working at Barnet Hospital to install a new patient relative room: it has a green roof and sun pipe lighting to bring plenty of natural light into the building. Here's what Garden Escape say about it:

"The aim of the building is to provide a restful retreat for relatives and friends spending long hours at the hospital, with someone who is approaching the end of their life. The Garden Escape successfully linked the new garden room to the existing hospital in the courtyard."

Matron Sue Hall, Project Leader, said: "Whilst Barnet Hospital is a lovely modern building, there really isn't anywhere for families or friends to go for a bit of a rest from long hours spent at the bedside. We wanted to create somewhere very special, but private and peaceful. We've been really touched by the generosity of people who have helped us achieve so much already."
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Making it easier.

Indestructible shedworking: Vostok Cabin

This mobile - and indestructible - shedlike atmosphere made of recycled steel plates from boats comes from Atelier Van Lieshout and would be ideal for all those shedworkers anticipating the imminent end of the world. It's on display at the Cite de la Science in Paris until next March.
Via dezeen

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STOP THE CLOCK: shedworkers

STOP THE CLOCK designs and prints hand finished greeting cards, unique wedding stationery and vibrant prints. It is run by textile graduates Kathy Slatter and Erin Taylor from their studio/shed in their back garden in Hyde, Cheshire. Here's what Kathy says about their experience: "We started off at the kitchen table with a computer but then I realised the shed in my parents’ garden would make the perfect office-cum-studio for us. This was actually the only way we could afford to set up our card company. It was only used for storage until we took it over, plus it was free whereas the rent on an office space would have prevented us from starting a business at all."
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Beach Hut Advent Calendar 2010: highlights so far

A few of our favourite huts from this year's beach hut advent calendar down in Brighton & Hove.
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Shedworkers contribute £6.1BN to the UK economy

Garden office-based businesses contributed an estimated £6.1 BN to UK GDP in the last year, according to research carried out by Shedworking.co.uk.

We know that Britain’s back gardens are home to a thriving and, to date, unmeasured sector of the UK economy which is exactly why we carried out a national poll last month in collaboration with award-winning PR and strategic communications consultancy Twelve Thirty Eighty and discovered that the average turnover of a shed-based business in the last financial year was £76,449.

An estimated 80,000 workers are thought to be based in garden sheds and outbuildings in the UK, although the figure could be much higher. More than half of shed-based businesses (61.3%) are run by sole traders, with 32.3% employing 2-5 workers.

There is also evidence that the shedworking economy is growing at a rate that dwarfs growth in more conventional business locations. More than one in five shedworkers (21.3%) expect their businesses to grow by more than 20% this year. Earlier this year Screwfix, the retailer of tools and building materials to the trade, reported that there are now more sheds than houses in the UK, based on analysis of Google maps.

The shed economy is sure to soar over the next decade. We’re witnessing yet another major change in working practices in Britain, similar to those we have seen over many centuries. Britain’s back gardens may become as revolutionary as the industrial canal system, sitting behind our urban and suburban frontages and powering our economy in previously unimagined ways.

And there is little sign that shedworkers see their environment as a precursor to a move to larger offices. Of the more than 500 shedworkers polled for the study, 74% said that they planned to remain in their sheds indefinitely.

Image: Peter Bestel 
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