New 3D TV technology invented in a garden office

Engineer John Braithwaite has come up with 3D television technology that does away with those weird glasses, according to The Scotsman. He has been working on his invention, Realview, in his garden office in the Clyde Valley (pictured above). More details of the technology at The Scotsman article.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday posts are sponsored by Atelier, garden studios which are sustainable, stylish, flexible, functional and future proofed. Click here for more details.

Render ideas for a garden office

Shedworking reader Jon Busby has a question for you knowledgeable folk: do you have any pointers about different and original render ideas for a garden office with a breeze block base? Jon say he is trying to find ideas that will make it look more organic or architectural. Please leave your suggestions in the comment box below.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Garden Room Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here.

1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces (review)

Rural Studio, Alabama, USA - Woodshed from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.
The Shedworking staff decamped to the 1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces exhibition at the V&A in London yesterday where we joined John Coupe from Secrets of Shed Building for a guided tour of the show by its curator Abraham Thomas. The main elements are seven small structures scattered around the museum ranging from Rural Studio's Woodshed (see video above) to an elevated Japanese teahouse - my personal favourite - and an incredible wooden tower of books.

Terunobu Fujimori Beetle's House - final finishing touches from Architects Build Small Spaces on Vimeo.
None of the architects involved are household names (though regular readers of Shedworking will recognise some) but they are extremely talented and inventive with a very impressive attention to detail. There are also informative video screens and a dozen more excellent design models on display which didn't quite make it to the construction stage. There are no specific shedworking structures although, as John pointed out, it was a little like looking at a fashion catwalk show in the expectation that some of the ideas will find their way into more mass market structures.

Thomas - who kindly said that his research for the exhibition included a nose around the Shedworking site - explained that key elements of the show are collaboration and engagement. The architects (none of them UK-based) have worked for the first time with a number of contractors whom they have admired from afar, while their ideas centre very much on providing an interactive space for visitors to explore - you are actively encouraged to wander around inside all the exhibits rather than simply look at drawings and scale models.

In short, it's a marvellous exhibition, unmissable for anybody interested in shedlike atmospheres and microarchitecture: I'll be taking my children to it and I know they will love it. Even if you can't make it there in person, there is a fantastic site online covering all the builds featuring blogs and videos plus lots of photos at their Flickr pages. There is also a lovely (and engagingly small) catalogue which I'll be giving away in a competition tomorrow here on Shedworking.

1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces runs until August 30 and is free with various talks, tours and lectures scheduled (see the #smallspaces hash tag on Twitter for details). Some of the structures will be sold at auction in September.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Garden Room Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here.

Shedworkers do well in Shed of the Year category awards

It's a bumper year for shedworkers in the fourth National Shed of the Year awards. In the category sections which have just been announced on Shedblog there are several garden offices among the winners including Nicola Brown of In The Shed (pictured above) in the Studio category. Winner of the Workshop category was Artemis Russell (pictured below).

And in the official Garden Office category, it's Dominic Jones' One Grand Designs.

Now the judges are arguing around the virtual judging table about exactly who will walk off with the top prize...
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday posts are sponsored by The Home Office Company, manufacturers of unique garden rooms since 1998. Now in 10 exciting new colours. Click here for more details.

Fab Lab

While undeniably offering a somewhat shedlike atmosphere, the FabLab House on show in Madrid for the European Solar Decathlon at the moment is not technically a garden office - but its design and principles could easily be transferred to a smaller building. The whole thing - a zero energy wooden home with masses of solar panels on the roof - is on three stilted legs to improve ventilation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists.Click here for more details.

Shed in a tree

Shed art by konarska-konarski in Warsaw. No tree was hurt in the making of this art.
Via designboom
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists.Click here for more details.

Tiny House Living: new issue out

Tiny House Living is a weekly online newsletter about, well, living in tiny houses and shedlike atmosopheres. The latest one has just come out and if you haven't come across it before, please do nip across and check it out.
Photo from Whittled Down which is featured in the current issue.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists.Click here for more details.