Podtime: outdoor sleep pods

Siestas, as any fule kno, are a good thing. So for your shed-based sleeping needs, there is now the Podtime sleep pod. Most of the designs are for companies looking to provide employees with an indoor napping solution or as Podtime put it "a sanctuary for rest in an otherwise busy environment" but we're more intrigued by their flatpack outdoor model called the Double Pod made of wood and plastic.

These are a bit larger than the indoor ones at 1.2m high and 2m x 1.9m floor area and come in at £950 as opposed to £1,375 (plus VAT) with a simpler design and build (the indoor ones are a bit more plush). It comes with either a standard double mattress or double airbed and has lockable doors (key or non key) - optional extras include power sockets. As well as snoozing in there, you could also do some shedworking. Maybe.

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The hidden costs of garden offices

A very interesting post by Michael Angove on his blog about not only building his own garden office (pictured above) but of some of the additional costs of doing so. Here's a snippet:

"The studio had to be connected to the house which is 25m away. This took exactly 50m (£££) of Armoured Cable. We future proofed the cable by putting in extra junctions (£) for garden lighting sometime in the future. The cable was connected (£££), fuse box (££), Sockets and switches (££), Exterior Light (£) and an alarm connected wirelessly to the house. Storage Heater too (££)"

Well worth a look if you're thinking of going down the semi-DIY route. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Shedworking: for and against

There's been a glut of surveys and media chitchat about the joys and perils of homeworking and shedworking over the last few days.

Research into the Chinese experience of homeworking has been particularly seized upon, including by Slate who ask 'Is telecommuting a good idea?' Despite using a rather bizarre term for it, their overall conclusion is 'Perhaps we’re not witnessing the end of 9-to-5. But the age of flex-time may indeed be at hand'. It's worth a look, including links to other bits of research and the original Chinese research paper by the folk at Stanford.

Then the BBC piled in with the similar 'Is teleworking driving us crazy?' (but come on chaps, keep up, nobody's called it 'teleworking' for years). They seem to be overall in favour of it but do point out some challenges. "As the boundaries between work and family life become increasingly blurred in the "always-on" era of digital communications," they say, "what psychological pressure does this put on us and our relationships with partners and families?" Again, worth a browse. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Der neue Hüttenzauber

There's a nice piece about shedworking - in German - featuring an interview with me in the main Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung by Juliane Lutz. Here's a snippet:

Ein paar Schritte durch den Garten statt Verkehrsstau und Platzrangelei im öV. Ein entspannter Blick ins Grüne anstelle der tristen Aussicht auf Mauern und Pulte. Keine nervenden Kollegen, dafür angenehmes Vogelgezwitscher. Ein Traum? Keineswegs. Vor allem in englischsprachigen Ländern entdecken immer mehr Menschen die Vorteile eines «garden office». Waren es anfangs meist kreative Freiberufler, entwickeln jetzt auch Softwarespezialisten Programme im umgenutzten Schuppen, und Anwälte empfangen dort Klienten.

And if your German is up to it, do have a look at a new book Fantasievolle Gartenhäuser: Pavillons, Lauben, Spiel- und Baumhäuser, Carports by Thomas Drexel, pictured above. ---------------------------------------------------
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Man Made Home: the new Walden?

We're just about to get overrun with television programmes about building shedlike atmospheres. Later this autumn Channel 4 will run a series fronted by George Clarke called Micro Designs which will be along similar lines to Kevin McCloud’s Grand Designs but focusing on very small build projects for living and working. And starting on Sunday at 8pm, McCloud himself has a new series on the same channel called Man Made Home in which he does a bit of a Walden and goes out into the woods to build an off-grid cabin of his own out of recycled and very locally-sourced materials. Here's what he says:

"This is the shed of my imagination; a shedtastic opportunity to explore off-grid ways of living, meet craftspeople of all ages and disciplines and ask whether living a life where we make and do is better than one where we simply buy and consume. A life-changing experience."

Not everybody is overjoyed at the programme's concept. Shedworker Nick Rosen, who runs the off-grid site describes it as "a bit of a vanity project", pointing out the problems of getting planning permission for such a project and that for something like this to succeed it really needs to be based around an off-grid community. Here's what he says:

“He says he is “off grid and off mains,” but if McCloud’s new series is to be anything more than an essay in Grand Selfishness it should be used to kick off a campaign to loosen the planning restrictions on building eco-homes in the countryside – and in the suburbs or in people’s back gardens. I call on McCloud to join with us to campaign for looser planning laws to allow a new generation of back-to-the-land homesteaders. This would create jobs and housing, and bring life back to the countryside."

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Garden buildings and the new UK planning laws

Readers will be aware of the UK Government's plans to temporarily relax planning laws (see The Guardian for a brief rundown) which, to cut a long story short, means homeowners can more easily build massive extensions. The question is though, how will this affect garden offices and buildings?

"I believe that the government announcement should be extended to include outbuildings for residential annexes in the garden," says David Whitewood of CroatianCabin. "It seems strange that you will be able to build an a whopping great 8m extension and use it as an annexe yet will not be able to use an outbuilding as an annexe.

"The Conservatives announced back in July their support for annexes "used by family members to encourage pensioners to move in with relations" so why not extend this to annexes? Building regs could also be simplified by adopting BS 3632 - Mobile Homes designed for residential use are often referred to as Park Homes and this would also close the caravan in the garden as an annexe without planning, building regs or VAT, loophole."

David feels so strongly about the subject that he has written to his local MP Gregory Barker who has in turn written to Nick Boles MP - Under Secretary for State (Planning). We would be interested in the views of other suppliers as well as shedworkers. Please do leave your comments below. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Could garden offices solve the UK housing problem?

A fascinating business proposition in Oxford is moving the shedworking/tiny houses story forward.

As reported by the BBC Oxford businessman Robin Swailes is marketing £25,000 shedlike pods (3m x 2.5m) with electricity, kitchen, bed, toilet, shower, underfloor heating and running water as small homes for those struggling to get onto the property ladder in the city.

The plan is that the upturned boatlike structures would be erected - once planning permission is granted - in gardens around Oxford and then rented out.

Interviewed in the Oxford Mail, Swailes - who has already set one up in his own garden in the Sunnymead area of town - said:

"We want to put pods all over central North Oxford and could have 12 in place by Christmas. People have been ringing to ask what on earth it is, so there’s lots of interest already. If the demand is there, there could be hundreds across the city within the next year. We came up with the idea because we can’t meet the demand for rental accommodation in central North Oxford." 

Oxford is one of the most expensive places to rent in the UK with an average rent of £891 a month – £185 more than the average for the rest of the country. Oxford has about 6,000 people on the council's housing waiting list and 165 more in temporary accommodation. The average house price in the city is £343,461.

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