Artichoke-shaped garden office

A remarkable build from Studio Ben Allen, an octagonal garden office in London inspired by the 18th century Dunmore Pineapple folly in Scotland. We especially like the green shingles covering the exterior. More images and details at dezeen. Photo and video below by Ben Tynegate.

I can finally share the details of our fab garden office designed by @benallen76, see if you can identify the models in the video! https://t.co/SLxK3L67YC

— Dr Rachel Allen (@RachelAllenDr) November 30, 2019

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2020 garden trends

In this guest post by Oeco Garden Rooms, the garden office specialists advise on trends that are expected to be big in 2020 including creating designated garden areas, the resurgence of high-quality garden furniture and planting native flowers to attract wildlife.

Garden trends have changed drastically over the past decade as people change the way they use their gardens and look to become eco-friendlier at the same time. Creating a practical space which is easy to maintain and comfortable to use can be a daunting task, but with a little planning and preparation, you can create an up-to-date and modern garden which will add that wow factor to your property.

Creating designated garden areas

The ultimate goal when planning any garden is to create a flexible space which has the right combination between plants, flowers and foliage, and inviting spaces in which to relax, unwind and entertain in. Designating specific areas of the garden is a great way of creating comfortable areas to entertain in as well as space for the family to play and have fun. Establishing boundaries between different areas can be achieved by planting simple borders, installing a patio or decking area, or building a fence to create secluded areas for reading, relaxing and even al fresco dining.

Investing in high-quality garden furniture

If there is one place to invest in the garden, then it is in your garden furniture. Cheap garden furniture will weather and fade a lot faster than high-quality products, and with the majority of us cutting down on waste and being more economical with our money there has been a resurgence of people investing in high quality and handmade garden furniture that is designed to last.

Rattan furniture is one of the top choices when it comes to high-quality garden furniture and with good reason. Rattan is strong and durable, able to withstand the changing seasons and is available in a number of different colours and styles to suit any garden. Rattan furniture is also ideal for casual seating areas and alfresco dining.

Another popular choice for garden furniture is solid wood furniture; these will generally need a little bit of maintenance to keep them looking new, but in turn, will last for many years. Wooden furniture makes a style statement in the garden and creates a sense of luxury and extravagance, but be sure to buy sustainably sourced or reclaimed wooden furniture for peace of mind.

Planting native flowers, plants and shrubs

There has been a big shift in the types of flowers, plants and shrubs gardeners’ plant in their gardens. In years gone by people planted flowers, shrubs and borders to create colourful collages without much thought to the environment or local wildlife.

That has all changed over the past few years as gardeners continue to make a conscious effort to use native plants and local resources to create gardens that closely mimic the nature around them. Perennials such as the Pasque flower and Bellflower create pops of colour, while Primrose blooms with pale yellow flowers in the Spring. Wildflowers such as Corncockle, Pyramidal orchid and Harebells add a natural touch while creating an ecosystem for local wildlife to live and thrive.

A trend in organic gardening will become popular over the next few years too as gardeners learn about the benefits of ‘going organic’. From healthier soil, stronger and bigger plants and greener lawns, to robust ecosystems of minibeasts, birds and other wildlife, organic gardening is at the forefront of reversing the damage done by decades of chemical and pesticide use.

There are other ways of attracting local wildlife to your garden too, including adding a birdbath or pond, leaving a small area of your garden to overgrow for shelter and food, and by planting pollinator-friendly flowers.

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Keeping your garden office warm

Though decent insulation should keep most garden offices at a decent temperature inside in colder months, sometimes people do want a boost. Here's one possibility from MeacoHeat Motion Heaters - they have a motion detection sensor which means the unit is only activated once a person walks into the garden office, which in turn makes it a more economical way to heat a space. When people leave the room, the heater switches off.

The heaters use safe PTC ceramic technology which provides a fast start-up time. A thermal cut out and tilt safety switch ensures that if they are accidentally knocked over, they switch off. The smaller model, 1.8kW has two outputs levels to save energy, a 1-7 hour off timer and a fan only mode for summer use, should you really want that. The larger 2.0Kw adds what the makers describe as "oscillation to distribute the heat evenly through a 70° arc". A three-level thermostat replaces the off timer to provide another level of control. There are two models, available in either red, black or white. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Garden offices and studios at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2020

The RHS has just announced what kind of shedbased action will be on view at the Chelsea Flower Show next year which is focusing on the environment, sustainability, and the climate emergency, but not it has to be said on garden offices which at this stage are sadly lacking. That said, here's our rundown of what is on offer in the show gardens (of course there will be plenty of shed action in the other stands and we'll do a rundown on those nearer the time).

Above is the Zen Garden (designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara and sponsored by Glion) with a garden house built in collaboration with Japanese architect Kengo Kuma who designed the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Stadium. Below is Bicester Village Shopping's garden (designed by Nikki Tibbles and built by The Outdoor Room). It has a rather attractive wooden pergola made from reclaimed sea groyne.

The Finnish Soul Garden, pictured below, (designed by Taina Suonio built by Conquest Creative Spaces and sponsored by no less than the  Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland) features a sauna with a cool-off.

Here is Miaofu's Garden which will put a tearoom centre stage (designed by Miaofu Designing and Research Institute, built by G K Wilson Landscape Services and Miaofu Ecological Construction Co Ltd, sponsored by MiaoFu Holdings Co Ltd).

And finally,  Trailfinders’ 50th Anniversary Garden with a timber shelter inspired by Nepalese architecture (designed by Jonathan Snow , built by Stewart Landscape Construction).

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Garden offices in a small space

We've highlighted various small garden office and garden studio builds over the years, including some inside homes and offices as well as on budding Prime Ministers' balconies, but of course much the easiest solution is simply to fit a small build into whatever small space you have in the back garden. Here are some examples from Garden Affairs. Top is an example from their Linea range, a garden office pod with a low profile featuring no roof overhang, and below is their Mini Garden Office Pod which comes in at 1.8m x 2.4m, with a 2.5m high roof.

Below is another example of a mini Linea, 2.5m x 2.5m.

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Potter's garden office

A lovely stilted treehouse garden office for potter and writer Raina Lee at her home in Los Angeles. It's largely made of plywood with fir wood cladding and reclaimed wood shelves inside.
Via dezeen where there are lots more images and details with photos by Mark Watanabe.  -------------------------------------------------
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Interview with founder of UK Men's Sheds

A nice interview with Mike Jenn, the founder of UK Men's Sheds, in the current The Big Issue. Here's a snippet:

“I didn’t know why men don’t get involved in community activities as readily as women do, so I figured I’d have one day that’s men only and one that’s mixed, and see if it made any difference. It never did.” Has he since learned why men are less likely to get stuck into local activities? “We’re conditioned to think we have to look after ourselves,” he explains. “We’re no good at asking for help when we feel bored or lonely.”

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Shed Christmas cards

If you're looking for a shed-theme to your Christmas cards this year, here are a few suggestions. From the top, Santa's Shed from Thrive (using gardening to change lives), Winter Potting Shed from Wrendale, and Beach Huts from brainstrust (the brain cancer people). We'll provide more suggestions in coming weeks, but please do feel free to add your suggestions in the comments below too. -----------------------------------

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What eco-friendly materials will be used to build the garden office of the future?

It's always hard to predict the next developments in the garden office industry but here's an interesting report from Sell House Fast who spoke to nearly 600 architects, engineers and construction professionals to ask them which eco-friendly building materials they expected the property industry in general to use more of in 2020

Around three quarters plumped for bamboo, just over a third went for straw bales and more than a third chose cork, a particularly interesting choice as we're already seeing more cork used in garden office builds such as the compostable garden office we recently featured on Shedworking and the cork garden office pictured above which recently made the finals of the Shed of the Year competition in the eco category.

The attractions of these materials are many: bamboo is light and has tensile strength, a good replacement for imported building materials; straw bales have naturally high insulating qualities; and cork does not absorb water or rot and is naturally fire resistant (it is also ideal for flooring and insulation due to its noise as well as shock-absorbing attributes). -------------------------------------------------------

Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

Wi-fi in the garden office

Certainly in the top 5 of regular queries to Shedworking from readers is the issue of getting wi-fi working efficiently in the garden office. Here's another suggestion, this time from Pocket-lint about the way to go, Google's Nest Wifi mesh system. It's well worth reading the whole article via the link above, but here's a snippet:

Without Nest Wifi, the Wi-Fi signal in our garden office (15 metres from the house and around 25-metres from our main router) was non-existent. When we set up Nest Wifi and put the Nest Wifi point in the utility room at the back of the house (two rooms away from the Nest Wifi router) however, we got full signal in the office. The speed test was a few Mbps slower in the office (67Mbps) than when the Nest Wifi point was upstairs on the landing (73Mbps) but this difference wasn't noticeable in use.

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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.

What are SIPs?

What is your garden office built out of? Increasingly, the likelihood is that it will be put together using SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) but it's also quite likely that you're not entirely sure what these are. Here's a nice short video from Swift Garden Rooms to explain.

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Charles Schulz: shedworker

Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts cartoons, was a very happy shedworker. His Californian art studio in Sonoma County, rural Sebastopol (pictured above) was where he documented the lives of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, et al, working from around 8.30am in the morning after driving his children to school, until about 4pm every day. He stayed there for lunch, usually a ham sandwich and a glass of milk, surrounded by the peaceful woods of the 28-acre propertly. You can see more interior shots at Press Democrat. The spacious studio has been largely left untouched but the owners have added a bed and rent it out to guests.

A recreation of his studio is on permanent display at the Charles Schultz Museum in the state's Santa Rosa. Among items on display are the drawing board he used to work on, his desk and shelves stacked with his own books, gifts, photos, and memorabilia.

In 1966, the original art studio was gutted in a fire. Schulz made use of the event in a story about Snoopy's doghouse also being destroyed by flames that year. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Garden office designed for customer with mobility issues

This bespoke garden office in Box Hill, Corsham, is from Swift Garden Rooms. It measures 5m x 3m and in addition to the black cladding and comprehensive insulation, has a multipurpose internal space which has been designed specifically for theclient's needs. As mobility issues are a key issue in this build, it has been designed with future-proof elements such as three leaf sliding doors with an ultra-low threshold. Swift's engineers/designers also incorporated additional internal wall strength to accommodate anchor points for specialised therapeutic exercise equipment.

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Traditional offices could be obsolete by 2030, says new report

An interesting report from integrated web applications specialists Zapier in the US suggests that the writing is on the wall for 'traditional' offices. In their latest study, around three-quarters of knowledge workers said they would be keen to leave a job which didn't permit working from home and jump to on that did, more than 40% said working from home was more productive than being in a 'normal' office (just under a third), and two-thirds of those questioned believe that the current idea of an 'office' will becom obsolete by 2030 for most roles.

They were also asked why they wanted to work from home and here are the top reasons:

1. Save money — 48%
2. Work from anywhere — 47%
3. Spend more time with their family — 44%
4. More productive at home — 35%
5. Better for their mental health. — 29%
6. It’s more environmentally sustainable — 23%
7. Spend more time with pets — 18%
8. Relocate somewhere more affordable – 16%
9. Make it easier when they start a family - 16%
10. Care for aging parents – 16%

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The secret life of sheds

A nice little piece in the FT by Emily Rhodes takes a look at the rise of rather luxurious bespoke garden offices. Here's a snippet:

"The desire for “secret space” — in the form of a bespoke, contemporary and spacious garden shed — is driving an entire architectural trend. “The sense of separation is really important,” says Jonathan Silver, an architect whose Pavilion, an “undeniably modern” shed structure, sits in the garden of his own west London flat. “You really get away; you can shut the door.”"

Well worth a read (via the link above) and you will see some builds featured previously on Shedworking with some chit chat from their owners and designers. ------------------------------------------------------

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Roald Dahl's writing shed: Miss Spider and the Hut

Here's a view of Roald Dahl's writing hut that many people will not have seen, as imagined by Ralph Steadman in the book The Roald Dahl Treasury, in ink, watercolour and acrylic with a photographic collage centrepiece. In Miss Spider and the Hut, Steadman portrays the first creature that James (of Giant Peach fame) meets on his adventures, here in mushroom fields looming above the writer's shed. Steadman said of the shed: "The room reminded me of an aeroplane cockpit. This was his creative space capsule inside which his imagination blossomed with wild, mischievous ideas."

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New issue of The Scottish Shedder out now

The November issue of the official newsletter of the Scottish Men's Sheds Association - The Scottish Shedder - is out now (download it here). Excellent as always, it features articles about the Stonehaven & District Men’s Shed which recycles prosthetic limbs for Africa, the Scottish ‘Shed of the Year’ Award runners-up, and how Dingwall Men’s Shed has secured ‘Licence to Occupy’ for its new home, and much, much more. A great read. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Diary of a Somebody by Brian Bilston

If you're looking for a suitable Christmas present for the shedworker in your life, then Diary of a Somebody by Brian Bilston (the slightly strangely monikered 'poet laureate of Twitter') might be a consideration. In no other novel of 2019 does a garden office play such a part and certainly not in such a major way on the front cover.

Featuring plenty of his cleverly devised poems and a plot about a marketing executive looking for love and a career as a writer, the central character Brian is let go from his job about halfway through the novel and decides this is the moment when he needs to buy a writing shed garden office with his £15,000 redundancy money. He is excited about it well before it arrives - here he is on May 28 writing about his furnishing purchases:

"I stuck to the essentials: a writing desk and chair, two floor-to-ceiling bookcases, an antique Remington typewriter, a whiteboard for brainstorming writerly thoughts, a desk lamp, a standing lamp, some curtains, a rug, a small wood-burning stove, a yoga mat, two tins of Lapsang Souchong, coffee machine, two packets of fair-trade Sumatran kopi luwak coffee, a neo-Dada abstract painting by up-and-coming artist Monica Bannerjee, three cushions, three Penguin Classics cushion covers, a footbath, a min-fridge, and an antique globe mini-bar."

The text does not go into detail about the type of garden office, but it's obviously a decent one since it take "a team of four experienced shed-builders a whole day to assemble it" and it has cedar cladding. Moreover, it seems warm enough in winter so must have proper insulation. Once finished, Brian proudly describes it as "not so much a writing shed as un palais jardinière des lettres". He goes on to say: "It is magnificent! A Wi-Fi-free oasis for literary endeavour. A cedar-clad creative hub!"

The shed goes on to play a significant part in the plot when the police arrive following the disappearance of Brian's poetic nemesis (who, it is also hinted at, also has a writing shed). --------------------------------------

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'Brexit bunker" garden office

This full-width garden office in London by Rise Design Studio is not only an unusual shape but was built to complement the railway which runs behind the property. The owner has christened the 15 square metre build the 'Brexit bunker'. It's well insulated and clad in black mild steel which will weather naturally, while inside is finished in what has become one of the major trends for 2019, birch plywood.

Photos by Edmund Sumner

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