----------------------------------
Aviva has revealed the winners of its competition to find the UK’s best “shoffices” i.e. sheds or outbuildings converted or built for use as workspaces.
Judge and property expert Louisa Fletcher said of the shoffice belonging to Kazzy Minton from Pembroke: "You can see the love and care that’s gone into creating Kazzy’s shoffice/design studio [pictured top]. It’s filled with personality and, tiny as it is, you can see just how well organised the space is to wring out every last bit of storage."
She also enjoyed Sandra Keogy's from Hampshire [pictured above]: "Evidence indeed that small can be beautiful, Sandra’s shoffice showcases clever use of flooring, lighting and wall treatments to all maximise light and create a cosy workspace that looks like it would be a great space to work in. Extra marks for the consideration that Sandra has given her furry co-workers with easy access – a nice comfy bed and water bowl."
The final winner was Claire Hughes from Scotland who is enjoying a double celebration as she also won the Wickes Home Office Award last week. All three winners take home a £250 voucher to spend at a range of wellknown shops.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning .
The reports into the beneficial effects of Men's Sheds continue to appear unabated. The latest is a report from Glasgow Caledonian University’s Sheds for Sustainable Development Project concentrating on how the Sheds counteract social isolation.
"Men’s Sheds in the UK have been highlighted for the impact they can
have on men’s social wellbeing but less is known about their ability to
address social isolation and loneliness, especially among retired and
unemployed men," said lead researcher, Dr Danielle Hutcheon from Glasgow Caledonian University.
In-depth
interviews with 62 Shed members from five Scottish Sheds indicate that
Men’s Sheds offer various activities that encourage meeting
new people and forming social networks where this had been previously
lacking. In particular, Sheds were found to be beneficial to those who
were socially isolated due to retirement or living alone.
You can read the full report here (it's not too long and is well worth a look).
--------------------------------------
I was chatting to longstanding friend of Shedworking Lloyd Alter from Treehugger last week about the launch of a new garden office in the USA from Denizen. It's an interesting design (made from wood, 3D printed biopolymers, and metal cladding) which for some reason the company says is "more like an automobile or smartphone than a conventional building".
But it's not the design so much as who they are targeting that's interesting - rather than trying to sell to individual shedworkers, they are looking to convince companies and councils to invest in numerous units, including on a rental basis. Lloyd was good enough to include some of my thoughts in his piece, which takes a close look at the design specs, and you can read them in his article These 100 Sq. Ft. ‘Smartpod’ Offices Are Available By Subscription
The winner of the first Wickes Home Office Awards is photographer Claire Hughes from Halkirk, Caithness, Scotland. Property expert judges Phil Spencer and Ben Hillman named Claire's setup the overall winner from a shortlist of five category finalists.
Claire had originally intended to build somewhere to store her children's toys, but then went another way. "With the help of a friend, I designed and built the shed which turned out to be the perfect room for homeworking and has become a sanctuary of peace and quiet for the family. I'm really surprised, it feels amazing to have won!"
Winners in the other categories included Katy Stevens from London with her converted cupboard (Minimalist Master), Anj Handa from Leeds for the Best Interior and Mindful Space (hers was an alcove home office), Ria Roe of Pinxton for Cleaning up the Dining Room (turning her conservatory dining room table into a workspace), and Jenni Griffin from Hartshorne for Savviest Set Up.
-----------------------------------------------------
The series of one-night-only shows runs August 3 - 30 and will also include the TEDx-inspired SHEDx, a series of free-to-watch 10 minute talks from Fringe talent
and industry leaders on the theme of the Edinburgh Festival
Fringe. Lots more details (and shed-ule, groan, at the link above).
SHEDINBURGH WILL RETURN from Francesca Moody Productions on Vimeo.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A rather nice little video from SMART which takes a tour around one of its ULTRA model which is being used as a garden office by a couple who make costumes for the excellent Crescent Theatre in Birmingham. Well worth a minute of your time (for some reason, best seen in Chrome).
A cheering story from Alcester in Warwickshire. Orangemabel is run by Jayne Roberts who set it up in 2013 and like many cafés was hit badly by the coronavirus lockdowns. However, Jayne has bounced back by taking out a Bounce Back Loan from Barclays and using the money to buy five beach huts in its garden area which she has individually themed (pictured above is Bee Happy). They are pre-bookable and thanks to their shedlike characteristics can be enjoyed whatever the weather. Happily, she has seen her turnover double as a result and Jayne is looking to take on more staff to cope with the additional business.
----------------------------------
London-based textile designer Sophie Reeves is the creative force behind her company Epoch Textiles which makes handwoven, abstract Modernist rugs (example pictured above) on a floor loom, using wool from UK suppiers. In an excellent interview with Liberty, she explains how she set up the company in 2019 and also about her garden office working routine. Here's a snippet:
I’m lucky enough to currently have my studio in my garden [pictured top]. Originally, I was working out of a production space in London, like many of my peers, however, I think with weaving being such a labour intensive process, that separation from the loom itself wasn’t ideal. With the physical aspect to weaving it’s much more efficient to be able to take breaks every few hours and then come back to it rather than confine all the work into a regular working day. It’s been relatively nonstop – with the amount of yarn I have, there’s not a vast amount of space left for personal touches, so it probably does feel a touch un-customised. It’s on the to-do list!
Sophie's plans for the future include working with other British crafts experts and extending her offering to including cushions, throws, and soft furnishings.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning 
Research into the impact of Men's Sheds is very much the flavour of the month. The latest report comes from the Irish Men's Sheds Association - there are 450 men’s sheds in Ireland with over 10,000 men visiting a shed weekly - and was undertaken by Aisling McGrath from the Waterford Institute of Technology. She examined the IMSA's recent 'Sheds for Life' campaign to encourage men to join up. Essentially, the conclusions are that Sheds for Life:
Interestingly, it also highlighted the impact of the coronavirus lockdowns - only 1.4% of men interviewed for the study described themselves as lonely before the enforced shed closures, a figure which leapt to 39.2% a year later.
Enda Egan, CEO, Irish Men’s Sheds Association, said: "We are very encouraged that this targeted intervention produced such long term positive change. We see this as a cost-effective template to roll out across the country. The health outcomes of this group of men remain generally worse than women with higher mortality for almost all leading causes of death. This gender-specific tailored and targeted approach works on health and well-being in a meaningful and effective way, focussing risk factors and prevention through lifestyle changes.”
--------------------------------------
A nice little summary of some of the nicest huts on the market on the moment from Rightmove includes examples from Hunstanton, Walton-on-the-Naze (above), and Felixstowe. Prices are, as the national media loves to point out, often really quite high - since 2019, the average price of a beach hut has hopped up by more than 51% to nearly £40,000. But this has not dampened interest. Of all the ones advertised on
Rightmove this year, 90% are already under offer or sold subject to
contract, while lists of interests are rising all the time.
Garden offices are becoming an increasingly visible extra for homebuyers in new housing developments. We've looked at this trend before a couple of times but here is a new example from Ashberry Homes at their new Callerton location. The example above is in the garden of a show home at its
184-home Church View development off Stamfordham Road for those wanting a shedworking element to their new home.
“Since the first lockdown in March last year, we have seen more and more people looking for additional space to work from home and have therefore responded to this trend in what we offer homebuyers at Church View," said Oliver Wray, sales manager for Ashberry Homes. “The building that we have chosen is the ‘Holt Garden Studio’ built by Crane Garden Buildings. The garden pods have been thoughtfully designed to allow users to work in comfort, but away from the hustle and bustle of the family home. Large windows have been fitted to enable plenty of light to shine in, while this particular one has downlights, electrics package including heating to use all year round.”
There are two, three and four-bedroom properties for sale at Church View, prices starting from £185,995.
-----------------------------------------------------
We know lots of readers enjoy their daily dose of Shedworking and have subscribed via the link - now at the top of the left hand column - to have it delivered to their email inbox. Unfortunately, the system we've been using for the last 15 years is now closing down so we have migrated to a new one. Hopefully it will be a smooth transition, but please bear with us if and when wrinkles need to be ironed out. And do get in touch if you have any queries or issues by emailing us at shedworking@gmail.com
If it's pouring with rain where you are today, console yourself with this attractive summery wrapping paper by Victoria Scott, available from her etsy shop wickysworld. Here's what she says about it:
Nothing says summer like a row of colourful beachhuts! This beautiful beachhut gift wrap is perfect to brighten up any present, with it's delightful seagulls, quaint lamp posts and of course pretty beachhuts. All my gift wraps, tags and cards are designed by me and published by Rewrapped, who specialise in recycled wrapping papers and other paper products. Their products are printed onto paper and card made entirely from post consumer waste and pulp that has not been bleached. They also only use environmentally friendly vegetable-based inks. And when you've finished with the papers these are fully recyclable too.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
An interesting approach to shedworking on a small but still effective scale from German-based UX design specialists Centrigrade. They made use of what they call an Armadillo Desk to get out of their traditional office structure to work on a nice sunny day. As they put it: "After a year in the home office, we’ve noticed that we’re missing something crucial: human interaction. The creative, colorful activity in a shared place."
They set themselves various targets - an outdoor workspace that was not too small or wobbly, somewhere that people could work undisturbed yet still feel connected, and a set-up that was mobile/portable. So they came up with what they call the Armadillo Desk.
More on the whole idea (in German) at Centigrade.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SMART Garden Rooms, Offices & Studios today launches its own virtual web configurator which also features an Augmented Reality (AR) VisualiserApp.
The configurator has been specifically designed for SMART and allows potential customers to design and create their own ideal garden room, office or studio in 3D to their own exact specifications. The app enables them to drop their newly created building into their garden so that they can see what it will look like and the best place to position it.
Sue Phillips, sales and marketing director said SMART was proud to spearhead the use of AR as an industry: “We are so excited to be able to give our potential customers the ability to create and visualise their perfect garden room. With seven ranges to choose from in over 60 sizes, plus a whole host of upgrades and optional extras, it can be hard for customers to visualise exactly what it is they are looking for or to differentiate between all that is on offer. We are not the first in this marketplace to implement this type of configuration tool, but we will be the first to implement the AR visual option.
“In this age of technology, this is a very important step for SMART. Customers are at the forefront of everything we do. This will make the customer journey far more engaging and will quickly bring their garden room dream to life.”
Managing Director Matt Moss said the new tool has been produced with the support of the Small Business Grant Scheme. “This project is a key strategic part of the growth plan for SMART and critical investment to ensure we continue to be one step ahead of the competition but more importantly as part of our ongoing goal to improve our customer experience and garden room journey.”
The Shedworking staff have had a bit of a play with it and can certainly recommend it. It's worth playing around to make sure you make use of all the features - for example, if you walk towards it once it's in position, you can actually enter it and look at your garden from outside.
----------------------------------
Another fine example to add to the folder of garden office poetry, Shed-Fever (inspired by John Masefield's Sea Fever) by poet, priest, and musician Malcolm Guite from his collection After Prayer. It's also featured in an excellent piece Guite wrote for the Church Times and he talks about his own writing hut in a separate CT article here. Here's a snippet:
I have a little hut at the bottom of the garden, which is called (more in hope than expectation) the Temple of Peace. I borrowed the name from Gladstone; for, in any house he inhabited, that was the name that he gave to his study. Not that my little hexagonal hut, which is, to be honest, no more than a glorified gazebo, would stand comparison with the spacious rooms, well stocked bookshelves, and lovely big desks that furnished the various “Temples of Peace” enjoyed by the Grand Old Man.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning
We're delighted to report that after the Covid-related cancellation of the competition last year, Love Your Hut of the Year - run by the eponymous insurers - is back for 2021, celebrating the best of the country's beach huts.
You can get full details on their website here, (and all the Ts&Cs here) but essentially what you'll need to do is email them at LYHOTY@loveyourhut.co.uk giving them your name, address, and hut location, telling them what you love about your beach hut, and attach five photos of you and your hut.
Up for grabs are £100 voucher and £200 Fortnum and Mason hamper to the winner, £50 voucher and £150 hamper to second place, and £50 and £75 hamper to third place, plus a plaque for each of the top three. The top ten shortlisted hut owners each receive a Love Your Hut goody bag.
You can follow entries being submitted on the Love Your Hut instagram page.
Closing date for entries is September 6 and winners will be announced on September 27.
--------------------------------------
Time for another excellent 'how to' video, this one from Allister Lewis who built his garden office himself using largely recycled materials. It's not one of those timelapse videos, but is fast enough to keep the interest and slow enough to see how Allister did it. Well worth a look if you are considering on embarking on something similar.---------------------------------------------------------------------------
