WHY magazine

WHY (work.home.you) is a marvellously slick online magazine which makes The Shed look like the product of a John Bull printing set. It covers a wide range of topics for homeworkers/shedworkers from business topics and technology tips to recipes and lifestyle issues like shedworking in the nude. It is published bimonthly (and there's also a blog) but there's an excellent library of back issues to explore online to keep you busy. This really is well worth a long browse.

Ancaya Green Roof Garden Shed

If you're thinking about putting a green roof on your garden office, then one of your earliest ports of call should be the excellent Greenroofs.com. Above is a good example of what can be done, the Ancaya Green Roof Garden Shed where you can find plenty of details of its construction (essentially a 112 sq.ft roof with a slope of 58.3%) by Living Roofs. Here's what they say:

"The green roof not only decreases the quantity of rainwater runoff from the garden shed roof, it also provides habitat for insects, birds, and butterflies, is an aesthetically pleasing addition to the urban backyard, and maintains cool temperatures inside the building creating a retreat from the summer heat. "

Spotted by Shedworking Scout Bill Kratz.

sexyShack

Shedworking reader Mark Meyer has been in touch to alert us to his extremely pleasant sexyShack. Here's what he says:

"The sexySHACK is an 18 1/2'x 10' space dedicated as a backyard graphic design studio/guest bedroom. To that end the driving force behind the design was natural light. This was capitalized upon through the generous use of cellular polycarbonate for the walls and the inclusion of some well located operable windows to induce natural ventilation as well as direct connections to the lovingly landscaped backyard. In order to create a protected sitting space that looks over the manicured stretch of green an 8' cantilevered roof projects out to cover a small hardwood deck and 8'x8' sliding glass door. This canopy is lit from within and provides a nice diffuse light to counterbalance the shaded backyard at dusk.

The interior is devoted to desk and worktable space. Red plexiglass strips along the west wall break up the afternoon sunlight and provide an added explosion of colour which offsets the oiled birch walls and ceiling. A single sized daybed cantilevers from the wall, but with a pull, slides from a cantilevered saddlebag to become a queen sized bed for guests to call home."

The building cost $10,000 to build and was featured on HGTV's "Look What I Made!".

World exclusive: Plywood Chateaux - the movie

One of the most popular posts last year focused on James Westwater and his marvellous Plywood Chateaux. Since then, his creations have been on tour, a book of the chateaux has been produced and now here it is, Plywood Chateaux - the movie. Sit back with your hot drink and biscuits of choice and enjoy one of the finest shedworking atmospheres in the world (look, it does fit four...).

House No19- mobile studio for artists

Architects Korteknie Stuhlmacher with the Rotterdam based artists BikvanderPol are the brains behind House No19, a mobile studio for artists. It was built as a practical and affordable place for artists to stay with one long space that can be subdivided into different interior and exterior spaces. As they say:

"It's a house to be used in many ways: as a hotelroom, a studio or a hospitable dwelling with a big table, plenty of daylight and as much privacy as one needs."

It is built from solid, laminated sheets of European softwood, covered with thermal insulation and a timber rainscreen, and stabilised by two steel frames: the whole thing can be transported in one piece. It can be fiddled around with to make terraces, ramps and podia.
Via campéon de cobertizos Judit Bellostes and beyondutrecht

Heavenly hideaways

Country Living magazine has a great nine-page spread in its April issue out now devoted to what it calls Heavenly Hideaways. It covers treehouses, 'rustic retro residences' such as Airstream trailers, summerhouses - including the shedworking soft furnishings specialist Jeanne Lainé - and follies. Lots of familiar namechecks but one or two new ones too. Excellent photos and well worth a browse.
Thanks to Garden Monkey and the other person whose name I've rudely forgotten for the alert

Revolving shed - technical expertise appeal

Shedworking reader Sam Krijan has been in touch to tell us of his intriguing plans to build a rotating shed on the spot pictured above, remote from his own home. If anybody has knowledge of turntable mechanics (and/or how George Bernard Shaw's rotating shed worked), please do email him. It sounds like the final build will be an interesting one: Sam plans to use solar energy, catchment water and local building materials, maybe including straw bales. The overall size will be determined by the turntable, but should not exceed 10x10. We'll post updates on Shedworking.