There's nothing like Shed of the Year in other countries but in Alberta, Canada they do have a Yard of the Year competition run by CTV which has just announced its winner, one which contains several lovely sheds. Enjoy these two short videos below:
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If you're looking to buy a garden office or upgrade your current one, Booths Garden Studios has a used 20ft x 8ft QCB Garden Studio which will save you more than £8,000 compared to a new studio. It's on offer for £17,495 as opposed to £25,995 new and needs a footprint of 21ft 4in × 9ft 4in. It comes in Booth's most popular colours, anthracite windows, corners and fascia with merlin grey walls. The offer includes window blinds and outside lights. These tend to go fast so if you're interested contact Booths via the link above.
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A hobby shed has scooped the overall winner prize in the 20th annual Shed of the Year competition, this year sponsored by Tiger.
Chris Otterburn’s Otty’s Hobby Shed 2.0 was actually entered by his friend Dave who said: "Chris would never have entered it himself. He’d also never admit just how much work has gone into creating it or how much it means to all of us. It’s become somewhere we meet every week, enjoy our hobby, make endless cups of tea and remember our friend Scott.”
Built as a base for the group's wargaming activities, Chris's friends helped to build it while their number, Scott Forrest, was undergoing treatment for cancer. Sadly, Scott passed away before the shed was completed.
Features include an 18-foot gaming table, storage for battle boards and miniatures that the group has painted themselves (in a separate painting shed), a tea-making station and a memorial area for Scott.
“Winning Shed of the Year is an incredible honour," said Chris, "and means so much to everyone who’s been part of this journey. What started as a hobby project has become somewhere our friends can come together every week, enjoy our shared passion and remember Scott. It’s far more than just a shed, and knowing other people have connected with our story makes this award incredibly special.”
Andrew Wilcox, Founder and Head Judge of Shed of the Year, added: “The standard of entries this year has been exceptional and proves that in our twentieth year the sheddies of the UK are still creating stunning spaces and inspiring others.
“Otty’s Hobby Shed 2.0 perfectly captures what Shed of the Year is all about. It’s an outstanding build, but it was the story behind it that made it our overall winner. More than a garden building, it’s somewhere friendships are strengthened, memories are preserved and people come together to share the hobbies they love. It perfectly demonstrates how a shed can become a truly special sanctuary.”
Sam Jenkinson, Head of Marketing and Chief Sheddie at Tiger, said: “We’ve been amazed by the quality of entries during the competition’s 20th year, and it’s been a privilege to celebrate the incredible creativity and craftsmanship found in gardens across the UK. While every category had a unique story to tell, Otty’s Hobby Shed 2.0 truly captured the spirit of what makes this competition so special.”
The Shedworking staff were also delighted to see Clare Muir's marvellous pottery studio, Tea Shack (pictured below), win the Workshop/Studio category.
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There was a wonderful selection of garden offices and studios at this week's RHS Sandringham Flower Show.
Pictured above is The Rhythm of Rainwater designed by Anthony Purdy focusing on turning rain into a visual and musical experience while underlining the importance of rainwater harvesting. At its centre was this lovely bespoke artist’s studio for a songwriter to work surrounded by inspirational landscape.
Below is 100 Sweet Summers designed by Kitti Kovacs with an oak-framed cabin at its centre, decorated with recycled wine bottles collected from those shared with friends and family over the years.
And finally The Thomas Gainsborough Garden which launches the 300th birthday celebrations of the artist with an artist's garden studio at its heart, designed by Frederic Whyte.
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This week's Finery is The Alison, one of the models from Pennsylvania-based Hillbrook Connections founded by Alison Caribasi who specifically says it works ideally as a home office. Features include a hipped roof, French doors, and side windows.
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A reminder that if you enjoyed shedworker novelist Joanne Harris's imaginative posts about her writing shed on Twitter, she's not there any more but she is doing the very same thing most days on Bluesky. Here's today's, above. Well worth a follow.
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Edna St. Vincent Millay- who wrote 'My candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends— It gives a lovely light!' - was one of the most famous poets in America when she moved to her new home, Steepletop, aged 33 in March 1925. As well as the main farmhouse building, the property including hundreds of acres of land and various outbuildings.
Among them was a small outbuilding in a blueberry field which she claimed as her writing cabin, and she worked there - often with her German shepherd, Altair, as a companion - until it burned down in 1928. Rather than give up on the shedworking lifestyle, she simply built another (pictured top) on the hill behind the house.
This was a simple garden office, constructed of unpainted pine boards, and surrounded by white pines planted to commemorate her mother's life, while around the cabin she also planted daffodils. It was modelled on George Bernard Shaw's revolving writing hut in Hertfordshire which she had visited. She wrote inside for three to four hours a day, inspired by the lovely environment around her - during her time at Steepletop she wrote several poetry collections, an opera libretto, and translated Baudelaire’s Fleurs du Mal.
The interior was furnished with a wooden desk and chair, stove, wing chair, and, a nice touch this, a chaise longue. Much of the estate has undergone conservation work by the charity that now runs it, and this includes the cabin which has been kept uncluttered.
Photo by Daniel Case
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An interesting 8.4m x 4m build from Eden Garden Rooms which they describe as "a large holistic L-shaped inside-outside living space complete with concealed storage shed".
It's in a large back garden plot in Surrey, a two-room building with distinct entrances combining an art studio (measuring 3m x 4m with letterbox window for additional light) with a general family retreat space (4.8m wide with room for a sofa and bar areaq plus full-height window), a large decking area, and separate shed storage room. Features include three-door bifolds, and combi-air-airconditioning units.
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As we go into another week of sunshine, here's a very summery garden office set up for this week's Finery from Cosy Garden Rooms which also features a rather inviting hot tub area.
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UK garden building specialist Tiger has reported a year of record performance, with revenues rising 18% year-on-year and sales more than doubled since 2019.
“The last 12 months have represented a major step forward for the business across ecommerce, retail expansion, customer experience and operational capability," said Sam Jenkinson, Head of Marketing at Tiger. "We operate in a highly competitive market, but we believe our focus on quality, innovation and long-term brand building continues to set Tiger apart.
“There have been significant external challenges, from fluctuating consumer confidence to rising costs and aggressive competitor activity, but the team has responded exceptionally well. What’s particularly pleasing is the consistency of performance we’re now seeing across the full trading calendar, including periods traditionally more exposed to seasonal and weather volatility.
“We’ve built strong momentum across ecommerce and retail simultaneously, and we see significant opportunities for continued expansion in both areas over the coming years.”
The company has in particular accelerated the rollout of its physical retail presence, growing from a single show site in 2023 to over 30 locations this year through its expanding franchise network (pictured above is part of its Bristol showsite).
Tiger says it expects continued double-digit ecommerce growth alongside further development across its retail network and modular buildings division throughout 2026, with additional product launches and category expansion plans already in development.
Alongside commercial expansion, Tiger continues to invest in sustainability and community initiatives, including recycling all timber chippings into animal bedding, supporting tree replanting projects and sponsoring this year’s Shed of the Year competition, which now includes a dedicated community category. The business also continues its partnership with St Gemma's Hospice.
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Architects' Studio is a fabulous build by O'Donnell + Tuomey in Dublin which has been shortlisted for the RIBA International Awards for Excellence 2026.
They quite rightly describe the 10m x 6m studio as a "shed-like structure", a freestanding extension to a late-Georgian terraced house in the long back garden which has managed to retain two birch trees and also offer views of the local Rathmines church. Features include a monopitch roof, double-height interior space, kitchen, mezzanine, a Douglas fir structure, locally sourced structural timber, a black zinc roof, and an air-to-water heat pump.
Smashing photos by Aisling McCoy and more at the top link.
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A quck update on the garden office/casita build in Chile of my old school friend Kevin Towl (you can see the original post here). It's coming along nicely inside.
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It's that time of the year when the generous senior management team allow everybody a few days of almost paid leave to enjoy the sunshine at glamorous locations of their choice. While we're all away, please do enjoy some of the previous 8,000 posts from the last 20 years and we'll see you again soon.
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New research from King’s College London suggests more than one in six fathers would quit if forced to work in office full-time, and that working from home in garden offices and other home environments could improve family wellbeing, gender equality, fertility, and staff retention, but only if fathers can use it without stigma or career penalties.
The report, led by King’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership (GIWL) based at King’s Business School, finds that fathers increasingly value working from home because it allows them to stay committed to paid work while being more present in family life. Yet the report warns that formal access is not enough. Fathers may be allowed to work from home on paper, but workplace cultures, visibility expectations and assumptions about commitment can still make it difficult to use in practice.
Key findings from the report show:
The report argues that fathers working from home can change how families manage the pressure points of daily life, from commuting and school routines to childcare and household work. It can also help with worker engagement, productivity as well as allowing employers hold on to staff who might otherwise look for roles that fit better with family life.
“Flexible working was never a mothers' issue," said Professor Heejung Chung, Director of the King’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and co-author of the report. "It's time we stopped treating it like one. Post-pandemic fathers have discovered something their own fathers never had, the school run, dinner time, the chance to actually be there supporting family well-being and financial stabilities.
“What is more, when men are involved, not only do their ideas of what it means to be a man changes but so do their children’s. A generation is growing up with a different idea of masculinity. Remote work isn't just reshaping offices. It's reshaping families and the future of gender roles.”
Shiyu Yuan, Research Assistant at King’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and co-author of the report added: “What employers may have not fully grasped is that working from home is not just nice to have or a cost to be managed, but something must-have and a reason for people to stay. For fathers, it is now a part of the family infrastructures and the coping strategy they rely on to be achieve both their career and family aspirations. Taking it away would disrupt family life, increase stress, and damage the engagement and loyalty of their most experienced staff.
“However, simply providing flexibility is not enough. Without tackling the stigma associated with flexibility, fathers may be fear of using it, or feel forced to use it in ways that protect their image at work while damaging their and their family’s wellbeing.”
Image courtesy Warwick Buildings
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This garden studio at the end of a recently built two bedroom house in Leyton, London, was designed by architect Joe Burke. It runs the full width of the back garden and the Shedworking staff were particularly taken by the horizontal design which works so well with the wooden facade.
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