An excellent blow-by-blow video account of building a garden office by William Griffin of Oakwood Garden Rooms. Well worth a watch, whether you're thinking of a self-build or are just interested to see how an expert does it.
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.
Various other media outlets have picked up on this piece on Yahoo Finance which suggests that "an increasing number of Americans have recently been turning to purchasing prefabricated, stand-alone office options." To be honest, it's really an interview with Mike Koenig, founder of Studio Shed who, admittedly, says the company has witnessed a massive surge in interest. But it really needs more statistics than one manufacturer to argue, as the piece does, that: "As the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 continues to accelerate the shift towards working from home, one new amenity is proving to be the new “must have” for any home." However, any move towards backyard home offices in America is to be welcomed and we're pleased to hear Studio Shed is doing so well.
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We had an excellent response to our post earlier in the week about small garden offices so here's another, the Ultra from Smart which comes in at just 2.1m x 2.1m but with all the usual must-haves (integral electrics, full insulation, double glazing, etc), and with floating walls and fitted carpet. It does come in larger sizes too.
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Nine out of 10 people in the UK who have been working from home during lockdown are keen to continue, according to a new report 'Homeworking in the UK: before and during the 2020 lockdown'. It reveals that the percentage of people working from home in the UK jumped from 6% before the pandemic to 43% in April - moreover, it also showed that productivity mostly stable compared to the previous six months.
It follows the BBC's article yesterday that employers are increasingly coming round to the idea of shedworking and homeworking - law firm Linklaters, Lloyds Bank, Fujitsu,
and Twitter are among those who believe the time has come to embrace a more flexible working pattern. At the same time, the government continues to be set on telling people to return to offices.
The new report, by Professor Alan Felstead at Cardiff University and Darja Reuschke at the University of Southampton, said 88% of employees who worked at home during lockdown wanted to continue doing so in some capacity, with just under half wanting to do so often or all the time.
More than 40% said they got as much work done at home as they did six months earlier, while a third said they got more done while homeworking.
“What is particularly striking is that many of those who have worked at home during lockdown would like to continue to work in this way, even when social distancing rules do not require them to," said Professor Felstead. “These people are among the most productive, so preventing them from choosing how they work in the future does not make economic sense. Giving employees flexibility on where they work could be extremely beneficial for companies as they attempt to recover from the impact of Covid-19.”Darja Reuschke added: "This provides an opportunity for us to radically rethink our city centres as multi-use places that accommodate different kinds of economic uses and are not built around fast roads that connect workplaces with residences.”
Image courtesy Garden 2 Office
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Space is understandably often an issue when considering whether to go down the shedworking route, but people are often surprised by what is available to fit into a small space. Here is a good example of a reduced size but still useful garden office from Youkube. It's just 2m x 2.4m, with larch cladding, wall-mounted panel heater, and convenient step.
Personalising a garden office is one of the many pleasures of shedworking. Here's a marvellous example from Swift Garden Rooms, a 10m x 5m meeting room at
the Saltisford Arm of the Grand Union Canal, for The Saltisford
Canal Trust. Features include genuine canal-boat porthole windows plus air-conditioning and a special storage space for chairs and tables.
The winner of Waltons' recent #MyWaltons competition is this marvellous summerhouse owned by Leigh. It's their 12 x 8 Contemporary Summerhouse with Side Shed model. Here's a snippet about how he's personalised the build:
"The summerhouse has had lots of customisations. I’ve insulated the building to allow us some use in the cooler months and inside we have built in-ceiling speakers, a TV built into the wall with surround sound, Wi-Fi, some lamps, sofa (made ourselves), pictures on the wall and a cool and relaxing colour theme on the outside with a warmer brighter feel on the inside. On the outside I’ve also recently installed a bigger decking area with deck lighting which has really finished it off nicely! I love tech; I’ve made everything in the garden and the summerhouse voice and mobile phone controlled as well."-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning
If you're looking for a remote garden office location, this beach hut on Silecroft Beach, Kirksanton, Cumbria, within the Lake District National Park, has just come up for sale. On with H&H Land & Estates for £3,000, it is on the shores of the Irish Sea and has marvellous views including of Black Combe and across to the Isle of Man.
As well as the 5m x 4m timber hut, you also get about 110 m2 of land, enclosed by a fence as pictured above. As the estate agent saysL: "Potential to upgrade and modernise the hut, subject to planning permission." For some people the catch is that it's a beach hut without overnight occupation useage allowed, but that's not a problem if you use it as a garden office.
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Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.
Still on the drawing board pending planning approval, but we're looking forward hopefully to seeing this treehouse design from Rotunda in real life. Here's what they say about it:
"Over the years, we’ve designed and built all sorts of treehouse style structures but this one really is special. Curve fanatics out there will most definitely appreciate the fibbonaci spiral integration. This configuration hugs the natural curves of the tree it’s supported on and wraps around as a natural spiral and curves like a nest would. In our opinion, all houses should be round, but none more so than the humble treehouse."---------------------------------------
A new study by slightly controversial technology company Huawei suggests that the garden is the hot new place from which to work. In general terms, 88% of people questioned said they want
to carry on working from home at least one day a week, 60% would would prefer three days a week, and 17% are keen to be out of the office every day. On top of which, three quarters said they're happier working from home and more than half that it had improved their mental health.
There is no surprise in why people said they liked working away from the office, but it's nice to have the usual reasons confirmed, viz:
Image courtesy Booths Garden Studios
What's the big new thing in garden offices this year? Well, apart from a massive increase in sales, one answer is perhaps dual aspect doors. Here are a couple of examples from eDEN Garden Rooms. Here's what they say about them:
"As well as providing multiple points of entry and making your garden studio space flexible and unique, dual-aspect doors also create a very aesthetically-pleasing finish, allowing panoramic views of the garden and creating a lighter-brighter space. Another popular combination is integrating a garden room patio or decking area alongside a dual-aspect door design, creating a fantastic extension of the studio space and a sense of brining the outside in, which is particularly effective in summer months."------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was speaking to a garden office supplier today who said to me: "In 20 years, we have never known business like this. EVERYONE needs a garden office. I am utterly exhausted." And while this is anecodatal, here's some evidence to back it up, the 2020 Renovation Nation Report, by mortgage comparison site money.co.uk looks at property owners' lockdown investment decisions.
Overall, the report indicates that UK’s homeowners have spent an average of £4,035 each on home renovations since the end of March Garden summer house/work studio tops the list for the most popular lockdown renovation project at 34% (ahead of living room, bedroom, and kitchen upgrades), with greenhouse at a very respectable 21%.
"Before the pandemic little attention was paid towards the most social areas of the home including the garden and living room. The 2020 Renovation Nation Report suggests homeowners perception of importance has changed as specialist areas are seen as an asset rather than a novelty. Areas such as a garden studio, leisure area, indoor gym or pub/bar area that add a point of difference, escapism or an improvement to well-being are a necessity. Going forwards, buyers in today’s market will take more notice of these areas which increases their potential to add value to the overall property."
Image courtesy Garden Affairs
If you missed Gardeners' World last week, you can catch up with former Shed of the Year winner Joel Bird talking about the marvellous shed he has built and maintains at his home in Margate via the BBC iPlayer thingy here or simply on the video below. Joel is on from the 27:50 mark.
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning
Edinburgh Fringe Festival is among the many festivals cancelled because of coronavirus issues, but into the breach has stepped the finely-named Shedinburgh Fringe Festival. A wide range of familiar (and less familiar) acts from the worlds of comedy, music, and theatre, are now releasing streamed performances taking place from their own home sheds, the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, and the Soho Theatre, London. It's up and running now and finishes on September 5 with proceeds going towards funding new artists planning to come to the Edinburgh Festival next year.
Acts have been asked to revive and reimagine past performances for a shed, rather than a theatre, with minimal staging and a digital audience. A challenge worthy of the Fringe, our performers are taking on quite the task.
Pictured below is an image of performer Gary McNair in action in his shed-based set at the Traverse. It all looks terrific so please do support the project.
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.
EB White, the author of Charlotte's Web and the Stuart Little stories, wrote/typed in a simple boat house writing shed at his home in Allen Cove, Maine. New England. Happily, it's changed very little over the years as this image from New England Today Living by Mark Fleming shows.
Rather late to the party with this one, but here's a fascinating archaeological detective story about tracking down 6th century St Columba's hut on Iona (the site of which is pictured above at Tòrr an Aba, photo courtesy Historic Environment Scotland).
A vital part of Columba’s legend is the writing hut or monastic cell where he is said to have copied scriptures and received students. But despite previous efforts to prove its existence, archaeologists had long believed the evidence was not available – and that little or nothing remains of Columba’s time. We have been able to show otherwise. This is the story of how colleagues and I found compelling evidence that Columba’s hut really did exist, completing what a great team of archaeologists started decades earlier.
Among the entries for this year's Shed of the Year competition which have caught the Shedworking staff's eye is the rather impressive Hobbit House built and owned by marketing manager Julie Twydell in Bromley, Kent. It is largely built from reclaimed materials, including a bed base for the door.
We've covered novelist Deborah Levy's writing shed several times before on Shedworking so it was intriguing to read about exactly how she furnishes it in the Financial Times. She has an... eclectic taste. Here is a snippet:
Pride of place on the wall of my shed is an artwork gifted to me by Cornelia Parker. It’s a black-and-white photograph of Charlotte Brontë’s quill and is part of a series titled Brontëan Abstracts. Parker used an electron microscope to magnify various objects and artefacts belonging to the Brontë family at the Parsonage Museum in Haworth, such as their needlework and even strands of their hair. Charlotte’s quill, in this photograph, resembles the wing of a bird. In my own mind, it is there in my shed to give flight to my own words.
Cornelia Parker has of course some experience of shed art...
There's obviously been a huge increase over the last few months in the idea of garden offices, shedworking, and working from home. I've seen various publications rushed out to meet this demand, most of which are frankly not that wonderful. But this latest one from Malvern Garden Buildings (you can download it here as a pdf for free) is well worth a look. Naturally, there is an emphasis on their own, impressive, products, but I know it's been in the works for a while and talking to them, they were keen to emphasise that it is very much a 'shedifesto'. It's beautifully put together - the images alone will persuade anybody still sitting on the fence to buy a garden office - with brief case studies, comments from homeworking experts, and various practical things to bear in mind when buying a garden office. All in all, well worth a browse.
------------------------------------------------- Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.
