Wiltshire-based and family-run Squirrel Design - David and Sarah Trotter - design and build bespoke garden offices but are also specialists in tree houses, all timber from sustainable, managed woodland sources. There are lots of enticing photos of treehouse construction on the site (don't be deterred if you don't have a large tree in your garden - they can use discreet support legs and can build around smaller trees).
We've featured some nice shedlike homes for birds and cats recently and here are two more animal sheds. Above is David Johnson's Goat tower in Illinois (at 31ft he claims it is the highest in the world) as featured by The Folly Fancier who also points to the marvellous Ohio Barns site which must be one of the finest collections of barn and barnlike builds on the interweb. And below, as featured on the intriguing Reclaimed Home ('low impact housing and renovation options for thrifty New Yorkers') is a Canine Cave from Scottie's Fine Art Caves. Here's what they say about them: "Believing that form should follow function, our Canine Fine Art Caves are designed first and foremost to maximize the level of comfort, security, privacy and peace of mind for your friend. Once these requirements have been met in the design process, they are incorporated into the physical structure, which is then shaped and reshaped until the artist’s vision is fully realized. All Canine Fine Art Caves then go into a dormant state where they are allowed to cure and de-stress. After a thorough fine-tuning session and the adornment of Scottie’s Badge of Honour, they are finally allowed to leave the studio."
Shedworking Scout Bill Kratz points up the Roberts Street Chaplet, above, to provide a little spiritual flavour this Easter weekend amid the blitz of chocolate bunnies. According to its designer Joel Davy: "The elemental form of the gable roof on a simple cuboid is intended to create a structure that lies somewhere between a small temple and a simple farm building. Steel post-and-beam construction along with the gridiron translucent plastic infill panels gives the chaplet a Japanese character. The 8'x12' interior is experienced as three separate spaces: the entry, the painting alcove, and the seating alcove."More lovely photos, including this interior below, by Lonnie Laffen at the architecture-page site.
The chaplet is one in a series of six (others are pictured below - more details at the very well-documented project site here) commissioned by artist Marjorie Schlossman to exhibit her work which was inspired by each specific build. She says: "These spaces, and the art within them, are designed to provide people with a moment’s respite from daily life, whether that moment is used to contemplate, pray, mourn or celebrate."Check out the film of the project too.
Is this what shedworking without any kind of shedlike atmosphere looks like? An intriguing design from Zaum. Here's what they say about it: "the concept: a system to create dematerialized environments, providing surfaces in the most convenient places to accommodate activities. being just one surface that bends to perform both structural and functional requirements simultaneously, it is effective in use with a minimum material, creating a functional and aesthetic whole. 'surfacer' is a 100% recyclable product, made of Parapan and suitable for both inside and outside use."Their work also features on Bookshelf.
Cynthia Smith at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum site profiles the Salvage Shed, another fine example of how shedlike atmospheres have become extremely useful post Hurricane Katrina: this one successfully reuses material from the thousands of demolished houses as she explains: "The results have been well received by the clients. Matt Abel was hiding tools in the woods while he built his home, now he has a place to safely store them. Billy Ray Raine, a senior volunteer coordinator, a fisherman will have a working unit to clean and provide food for his family. In both cases the rooms met the exact needs of the clients. As examples of successful re-use of salvaged materials the sheds showcase alternative solutions to the purchase new materials. The sheds are simple, economical solutions using local materials to solve the immediate and pressing needs for the multitude still waiting for relief."Another fine Bill Kratz spot.
Cathy de Monchaux's Confessional is built of copper, steel, glass, limestone and leather. According to Cathy, she wanted to build something which was a sculpture, but only complete when people entered it and started talking inside. The Cass Sculpture Foundation which showcases the work says:"Her reflective method of working has resulted in a building that is simple, assured and which looks from the outside to be a place without pretension, but with strength of line and solidity of form... Like most of de Monchaux's work, Confessional is secretive: it hints at comfort - here is a place to rest, to recline and to converse. It is quiet inside, away from the hustle of the crowd, but you could easily damage your hand on the spikes which are part of repeated hand shapes forming the decorative screen. The screen itself is a metaphor for all that confuses communication. Is my truth your truth? Do you understand me? Do I know you?"The screen, pictured below, is a fretwork of rusting steel.
