Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Joe Swift: Shedworker


Television garden expert Joe Swift is among those whose 2016 will mean a first taste of shedworking.
“I’ve only got a small garden and have put in a tiny garden office and I’m hoping to do some of my writing and garden design from the garden to change my perspective," he tells the Carluke Gazette.
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Monday, December 28, 2015

Making a garden office


How do garden office suppliers make garden offices? Here is a brief video from Smart Garden Offices which shows their new CNC machine in action, designed and built in Italy specifically for their office production line. --------------------------------------------------------------------
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Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Merry Christmas to all readers of Shedworking


“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 28.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Garden office cake

The lack of snow means we've been forced to abandon our annual 'garden offices in the snow' feature, but this is just as good (not to mention edible), featured on Judy Heminsley' site Work From Home Wisdom, put together by Kathryn Matthews of Kathryn’s Homemade Cakes. --------------------------------------------------------------------
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Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Sheds and Christmas presents

 
The vital importance of a secure garden office has been underlined by research from the Post Office that reveals the top hiding places used to keep presents secret. These, in order, are:

1)      Wardrobe or chest of drawers

2)      Under the bed

3)      In a suitcase

4)      At a friends or relatives house

5)      In the garage

6)      In the garden office/shed

This means shedworking atmospheres beat 'in the attic', 'at work', 'in  the car', and (perhaps not so surprisngly) 'in the bathroom'.

The research also reveals that a quarter of people confess to doing some detective work to try and uncover the gifts they are set to receive so make sure that garden office is locked tight. ----------------------------------------------------
Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Stable Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

A year in the life of a garden office supplier


Richard Grace of the long-established Garden Structures has taken a wander through the projects he's worked on throughout 2015 on his blog which makes for very interesting reading. As well as the art studio for the head of design and creator of Liberty prints pictured above, the list features a client who knows exactly what he wants, a building to help grow a childcare business, a therapy studio for a chiropracter, and a garden office for somebody who buys horse blood. Well worth a read.


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Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

Monday, December 14, 2015

Shedman at Christmas


Poet John Davies will be in the excellent Much Ado Books bookshop in Alfriston, East Sussex on December 20  in their shedlike barn from 1pm to 5pm. He'll be writing, performing, inspiring and generally being a decent chap. Strongly recommended if you're in the area - it's free and you can't book, just turn up.
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Thursday, December 10, 2015

#Shedvent

Shedworker and author Joanne Harris is again providing a shedlike accompaniment in the run up to Christmas on Twitter, as she has in previous years, using the #Shedvent hashtag. Well worth a daily peak. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Space shedworking


 As the new Star Wars film creeps towards us, here is the appropriately named Space Shed from Waltons. Features include opening windows and removable shelving, perfect for stargazers. Aaron Ketland, a spokesperson for Waltons, said: “You only need one person to take this shed apart and put it back together, as it’s very unique.” The shed is made from a solid timber frame, clad with 12mm tongue and groove timber with  two opening shatterproof styrene windows for ventilation, and two removable timber shelves,

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Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Stable Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here

Tuesday, December 08, 2015

Barcelona garden office (video)

Spain is not noted for its shedworking lifestyles but here is an excellent video showing a build in Viladecans, a town close to the city. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

Monday, December 07, 2015

Backyard shed project




A lovely photographic step-by-step guide to putting up your own shedlike atmosphere in "a tree sheltered canyon in the neighborhood of Mt. Washington" in California by Gregory Han on Design Milk. Here's a snippet:
Friends have mentioned the converted tool shed now reminds them of a Japanese teahouse, a poolside cabana, or a treehouse. That such a small simple space could evoke all these images is a testament to the power of a little paint, some handsome flooring, and a little sweat.
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Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Thursday, December 03, 2015

Writing pavilion




    A marvellous, minimally furnished, garden office in Brooklyn, New York, from Architensions used for writing and drawing by its owners. Here's what the architects say about it:
    "Nested on a concrete plinth, the pavilion employs the use of black stained cedar for the exterior cladding and natural pine plywood for the interior. The pavilion’s sectional shape acts as a device to bring natural light inside, and induces optimal conditions for the human eye. Tthe warm interior wood becomes the unifying element between interior and exterior. The roof is conceived as a large sloped light well porous towards the trees and the sky; one elevation is dominated by a large opening looking out toward the garden. The specific phenomenological conditions of this retreat space make ideas come to life through a synthesis of material and spatial imagination."
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    Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

    Tuesday, December 01, 2015

    The Library Shed

    The Library Shed Andrew Esposito's marvellous library shed in London which houses a particularly strong section on bird books could also work well on the Bookshelf blog. Click the link above to read more about it (including the only way Andrew's family can gain access to the shed). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

    Monday, November 30, 2015

    Sarah Hadland: Shedworker


    The star of the comedy series Miranda and The Job Lot according to a story in the Daily Mail. "I had this office put in the garden last year," she told the paper, "because my two-bedroom Victorian coach house is quite small and I wanted to start writing comedy scripts. It's now my haven as I love being outside in my garden." The garden office was built by Harrison James. --------------------------------------------------------------------
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    Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

    Thursday, November 26, 2015

    Nature shelters


    These rather nice shedlike atmospheres based on traditional fishermen's huts from LUMO architects are in fact nature shelters, dotted around 17 sites in coastal Denmark and aimed at enhancing tourism in the area (although they would also make smashing garden offices too). There are 47 of them, with wood chip cladding and covered in wood tar oil, in five different models, each named after a kind of fish. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

    Wednesday, November 25, 2015

    Beyond Live/Work: The Architecture of Home-Based Work


    There are plenty of attractive books about sheds, garden offices and colourful introductions to working at home, but at last there is a book which is not only well illustrated but also tackles the subject intelligently and comprehensively while still being readable.

    In fact it's so thorough that it's hard to do justice to the book in a single blog post and Frances Holliss - an architect and Emeritus reader in architecture at London Metropolitan University - will be writing a guest post for Shedworking next month on the subject. But in brief, Beyond Live/Work looks at the history of people working at home (not just in the UK, there's particularly good coverage of Japan for example too) and the types of location in which they do it, including garden offices. There are also many interviews with homeworkers to emphasise the human element in homeworking.

    There is plenty here to get your teeth into, from cottage factories (of which I was shamefacedly ignorant), a fascinating list of homeworking occupations made by Victorian work researcher Charles Booth (are there many gold-leaf beaters still shedworking today?), and suggestions for the future (from courtyard workhomes to 'flirting benches' so homeworkers get a chance for romance...).

    But it's also a book with several messages, not least that the 20th century idea of 'going to work' is likely to look like a blip in the history of working as homeworking continues to rise. "This represents a radical change in our society," she writes. "It has huge implicains for how we inhabit, think about and regulate our homes, workplaces, and cities."

    Frances mentions how many of the people interviewed for the book are the backbones of their community. "All are visible, well-known members of it and generally work long hours in some form of public service." She also strongly argues the case for the eco-friendly nature of homeworking and against the nightmare of commuting.

    In short, this is the best book I've read about working from home and you should all certainly buy a copy. For a taster, have a look at Frances's website WorkHome which holds a vast collection of homeworking resources. ----------------------------------------------------
    Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Stable Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here

    Tuesday, November 24, 2015

    Zombie Fortification Cabin




    There are plenty of niche garden office products, but perhaps none nichier than the Zombie Fortification Cabin (ZFC-1) from Tiger Sheds. A Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign in collaboration with Zombie Infection earlier this month did not reach its target but you can still go direct to Tiger Sheds if you're interested in a zombie-proof log cabin (with 10 year anti-zombie guarantee). 

    Features include a barbed wired surround, arsenal storage unit, and allotment area to grow your own vegetables. They can also provide water cannons, search lights and flame throwers. And of course solar panels. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

    Monday, November 23, 2015

    Homeworking predictions from 2010 about 2015


    An interesting post at Pocket-lint by Chris Hall who in 2010 peered into his crystal homeworking ball to wonder what it would be like in our shedlike atmospheres five years down the line. Here's how it starts:
    I love my commute: I walk 3 metres from my back door into my garden office. I've been a home worker for nearly 10 years now, as many more people are. Continued investment and enhancement of the broadband infrastructure has changed a great many things, making working from home more of a reality. It is no longer seen as "bunking", because it can be as interactive as any office ever was. Government pressure to reduce emissions from big business has seen tighter, more efficient, working practises and a huge reduction in commuter culture, fuelled by corporate tax breaks, of course.
    Well worth a read. --------------------------------------------------------------------
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    Thursday, November 19, 2015

    Garden office garage conversions


    Research from Sainsbury’s Car Insurance reveals that garages are becoming a less common feature of Britain’s family homes, with an estimated 3.9 million people having 'repurposed' their garage over the past 20 years to provide extra living space (a standard-sized single garage can give you around 14m² of extra space).

    The most popular choice is to make it into a workshop (26%), followed by an office (20%), although other ‘converters’ created bedrooms (13%), playrooms (7%) or extended their kitchens or living rooms in to their garage (16%).


    Anecdotally, according to property experts, converting a garage to provide additional living space can add up to 10 per cent to the value of your property.

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    Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

    Wednesday, November 18, 2015

    Apocalyptic shedworking

    If you've ever wondered how you would continue working from home in your garden office in the event of an apocalypse, then here's the video for you... ----------------------------------------------------
    Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Stable Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here

    Tuesday, November 17, 2015

    Beach hut advent calendar


    The fine folk at Beyond Church are once again opening up their beach hut advent calendar in the huts along the esplanade in Brighton & Hove. Regular readers of Shedworking will know that each day in December,  a different hut is open to the public from 5.30pm to 6.30pm, individually decorated along traditional Christmas lines. And there are also mince pies and mulled wine on offer. We'll be featuring some of our favourites during Advent.

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    Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

    Monday, November 16, 2015

    Dome shedworking



     
    Way back in 2009 we featured Hugh Thomson's design for a domed garden office. Hugh recently got back in touch to let us know how his thinking on the design has changed (it's still in the planning stage):
    Recently a renewed interest in Geodesics uncovered an interesting design of a habitable polyhedron by a Columbian architect named Manuel Villa. I was intrigued by this design and at the same time recognised a number of features that had potential for improvement. So I decided to develop my own version of this shed with improvements to the fascia around the main front frame and also to the integration of services within the structure itself.

    The main polyhedral frames are held together by a series of wedged shaped blocks which double as a support for internal conduits that can be used for drainage or power supply. The fascia is a now a continuation of the roof surface with a 30mm dowel lining the edge to facilitate folding of the roof flashing to the edge of the window frame without compromising integrity of same.

    The roof has a built in gutter following the perimeter of the roof dome which I have partially covered to minimize the amount of water collected, being mainly from the dome itself. 

    The other reason why I decided to look at this design was one of perceived cost. In the articles in the Architectural forums; where Manuels shed first appeared; a number of comments related to the perceived high cost of building something like this. Other than the dome, which can be replaced with something cheaper; the main elements of the design are quite simple timber construction with minimal complexity in the joints. I have substituted a plywood cover to the roof in lieu of planking, though admittedly planking would certainly look better internally. The roof finish could either be felting or shingles.
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    Thursday, November 12, 2015

    Richard Lovesey: Shedworker



    Regular Shedworking reader Richard Lovesey is a specialist fine pencil artist based in Louth. A shedworker for some time, he has recently extended his original garden office studio and print works (pictured top). An interesting photo gallery of the building work can be seen at his Facebook page.



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    Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

    Wednesday, November 11, 2015

    Muji huts





    Muji is moving into the garden office/tiny house market with these prefab huts designed by Konstantin Grcic (a two-storey build with a mezzanine), Jasper Morrison (with separate kitchen and bathroom) and Naoto Fukasawa (features include a bath). They are built out of cork, aluminium and wood and should be on sale (in Japan at least) in early 2016. ----------------------------------------------------
    Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Stable Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here

    Tuesday, November 10, 2015

    Beach hutworking: 'One and All: A voyage through sight, sound and sea'


    ‘One and All: A voyage through sight, sound and sea,’ is a National Trust-funded project put together by sound artist Martyn Ware (of Heaven 17 and Human League fame). Martyn spent the summer wandering around the UK coastline, recording sounds from his portable beach hut. He and visual artist Tania Kovats, and poet Owen Sheers then worked on projects exploring the theme of seaside landscapes. You can see and here the results in an exhibition at Somerset House in London which runs until 13December and online here (a really atmospheric digital experience).
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    Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning