Jan Stradtmann at Manor Garden allotments

As regular Shedworking readers will know, the Manor Garden Allotments in London have been taken from their allotmenteers and bulldozed to make way for Olympic preparations. Jan Stradtmann got there just before the sheds were removed and took a series of marvellously dark shots. Here's what he says:

"As I entered the allotments for the first time with knowledge of the tennants’ planned eviction, it felt like I was entering a crime scene. Photographing the huts shortly before their elimination transformed them into symbols of an injustice to come."

Via Lifeisland.org and The Photographers' Gallery

Portavilion

Portavilion is a portable public art project being held in various parks in London during the summer as part of the London Festival of Architecture (runs until July 20) and features the work of several wellknown contemporary artists who were asked to "explore the possibilities for temporary, large scale public art". Above is Dan Graham's 'Triangular Pavilion With Circular Cut-Out Variation H'. I'm showing my ignorance here, but apparently Graham is considered the “guru” of artists' pavilions and his aim is to "produce a sense of uneasiness and psychological alienation through a constant play between feelings of inclusion and exclusion." Which is what it's like most days in my garden office. This one is a mixture of transparent glass and two-way mirrors with a clear glass ceiling and is inspired by Chinese garden pavilions, rococo mirror pavilions,19th century gazebos and urban bus shelters.Below is Annika Eriksson's 'The Smallest Cinema in the World – For the Wealthy and the Good', a six seater cinema which will show her own short films.There are also pavilions by Monika Sosnowska and Toby Paterson.
Thanks to Emma Townshend for the tipoff

Choosing a shed - Glassbox

We mentioned Peterborough-based Glassbox in passing recently but it's worthy of more than six words. As you can see, there's lots of glass but other nice features include frameless rooflights, attractive louvres, sliding folding doors and a privacy screen which extends out onto the deck. Options include underfloor heating and remote controlled light dimmers. Glassbox proudly trump their eco qualities, especially their thermally wonderful glazing and passive solar gain, as well as the usual managed timber sources, recyclable materials, etc.

S.H.E.D your life

"It seems we need to S.H.E.D. That’s Julie’s acronym for Separate the treasures (What is truly worth hanging on to?), Heave the trash (What’s weighing you down?), Embrace your identity (Who are you without all your stuff?), and Drive yourself forward (Which direction connects to your genuine self?). Julie’s taken the whole “clean and declutter” out of organizing and placed it in the self-help arena (I see a speaking tour on deck). “When you’re eager to make a change in your life, but you are unsure of your new destination, you need to SHED,” she writes. It’s about purging “the physical and behavioral clutter holding you back so you can finally create real change in your life.” The words “defunct,” “obsolete” and “obligations” were bantied about, juxtoposed with “richer” and “more meaningful.”"

Chief Home Officer.

Building your own garden office is not all sweetness and light

Mary is giving an excellent, and honest, blow by blow account of building her own eco-friendly garden office. Her recent post - Slow going and chicken wire is a bitch - underlines that a good green shed is not built in a day.

Cocobello

Cocobello comes from Munich-based architects Peter Haimerl. It's a modular pavilion which you can fiddle around with to give it a second storey or extend the ground floor, ideal for flexible shedworking.
Via Judit Bellostes

Choosing a shed - Outbuilds

Swansea-based Outbuilds design and supply bespoke garden offices, fully plastered, insulated and with green roof and sheep's wool insulation possibilities. Interestingly, each shedlike atmosphere is built in their workshop, the proto-shedworker comes to give it the green light, then it is reassembled in your back garden. What's also interesting is that unlike most garden office suppliers, they charge per square-footage rather than per model.