2018 Shed of the Year winner is Bee Eco Shed

The ‘Bee Eco Shed’ from Sheffield has won the Cuprinol Shed of the Year 2018 which featured 2,900 entries and over 16,000 public votes. George Smallwood’s sheddie ecosystem was selected by competition founder Andrew Wilcox from readersheds.co.uk, Cuprinol’s creative director Marianne Shillingford, and 2017 Shed of the Year winner Ben Swanborough.

George Smallwood started out building a base for a ready-made shed, but felt inspired and decided to create the whole structure himself. Today, it is used as a space of discovery as George interacts with the different species occupying his shed. In this entirely self-watering and self-sufficient space, the vegetables, herb garden, bugs and bees can truly thrive.

Marianne Shillingford, Creative Director at Cuprinol said: “As we move into an age of sustainability the fifth room of the home is going to become increasingly important in helping create environmentally friendly, functional solutions for the family and community which are also appealing to the eye!"

George takes the coveted title along with £1,000 courtesy of sponsors Cuprinol, £100 of Cuprinol products, a winner’s plaque and a giant crown for his shed.

“Coming in at the top spot was such a welcome suprise!" he said. "When we started the project we never could have dreamed we’d be here now. We’re so proud that our shed has become a habitat for nature in a small urban garden, showing you can always do your bit for making a home for nature. We hope our shed will inspire others around the UK to create spaces for wildlife in their gardens."

Andrew Wilcox added: “The competition was extremely tough this year, from a musical shed on the water, to a taxi, to an authentic Irish pub. With strong contenders winning all eight category awards it was a difficult decision for the judges. George’s shed stood due to its impressive, hand-made structure but also because of its unique story and special purpose. We couldn’t be happier with our decision to crown ‘Bee Eco Shed’ the winner.”

Although there is no specific garden office category any more, there is a workshop and studio one which features lots of shedworkers. The marvellous category winner here was the Viking Bauhutte owned by Chris Walter in Hampshire




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Compost toilet company merger is good news for garden office workers

West Midlands compost toilet manufacturer The Little House Co has joined Skipton-based Kildwick to create what is claimed to be the largest compost toilet company in the UK. It brings together The Little House Co’s specialism for land-based customers and Kildwick’s canal/boating users into one, combining the manufacturing, development and marketing skills of both businesses.

With the widest range of waterless, off-grid compost toilets that can be installed virtually anywhere in houses, including garden offices, sheds, summerhouses, shepherds huts, and boats, either temporarily or permanently. The combined business will benefit from the design, technical and manufacturing expertise that Kildwick Ltd has created, with the marketing and promotion skills and different customer base of The Little House Co.

“The first time I met Colin and Maria (Kildwick Ltd) was back in 2014," said Martin Doyle of the Little House Co, "and we instantly became friends. Joining Kildwick seemed a natural thing to do and enables me to utilise their manufacturing and development skills so I can concentrate on the marketing and promotion aspects to bring all our products to the widest audience.”

Colin and Maria added that the two companies had been working “in cooperative competition" for the last three years. “Each of us tended to specialise in a different market segment, but with common values of quality, customer service and value for money. Bringing the businesses together will help us combine our strengths and eliminate our weaknesses”.

The Little House Co was formed in 2012 by Martin Doyle and manufactures the Eco-Loo range of compost toilets, as well as reselling toilets from Swedish manufacturer, Separett. Kildwick was formed in 2014 by Colin Ives and Maria Matthews and using innovative production methods including fibre glass and 3D printed components, combined with traditional woodwork and metal crafts, they have created a unique range of products including the Kildwick Koodle, the smallest compost toilet on the market. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Reclaimed scaffold boards garden office

A lovely, and short, video cataloguing a garden office build by Recycled Woodworking and Iron. -------------------------------------------------
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Trekking to Heidegger’s writing ‘hut’

Martin Heidegger is one of the few major philosophers who was also a shedworker (see here for more on him and his Hütte and the book pictured above by Adam Sharr which is marvellous) although this aspect of his lifestyle is often sadly overlooked. Thank heavens then for this lovely piece by Walter Nicklin in The Washington Post about his Black Forest pilgrimmage to Heidegger's writing shed. Here's a snippet:

In a meadow surrounded by trees, it was all but invisible. No wonder I had first missed it! Unverborgenheit, or “unconcealment,” is a word Heidegger coined for the sudden discovery of truth, as if stumbling upon a clearing in a forest. I left the manicured trail for an overgrown path laced with electrified fencing (to keep cattle from wandering). On hands and knees to duck under one set of wires, I couldn’t help but laugh as I thought of the celebrated Heidegger trope of the woodcutter’s labors seeking to hack out a path to the clearing, to the bright “thereness of what is.”

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Garden office gym

To end the week on a get up and go note, here are photos from a Garden2Office build of their Malmo studios kits bought by the owner of Aldersbrook Personal Training in Wanstead, Sylvain Vidot, who wanted a 30sq m gym to offer a range of cross training equipment close to home for many of his City clients. -------------------------------------------------------

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Rise in homeworking means people increasingly want to live near water

Strutt & Parker’s latest Waterside Survey shows that twentysomethings and thirtysomethings are increasingly moving towards waterside living in the UK, largely due to increased flexible working patterns and shedworking.

More than a quarter of under-35s polled and over a third of 35-39s are actively looking to live near water within five years, as well as 27% of 40-44s.
Interestingly, among employed adults already living in waterside properties, just under a half already work from home, rising to nearly two thirds in their early 30s and over three-quarters in their early 40s. On average, those working from their waterside properties do so for three days a week, in particular those in the tech, education and healthcare sectors.

Richard Speedy, Head of Waterside at Strutt & Parker, said: “Waterside living has so much to offer – inspiring a more active outdoors lifestyle and a really sociable environment for spending time with friends and family. This year it’s been interesting to see that more people are being lured to the waterside by the promise of good food – 15% up from 7% in 2017.”

Compared to last year, more people are choosing to live near water for better air quality (47% up from 41% in 2017) and for mental wellbeing (35% up from 29% in 2017).
 Among those who live near the water or would like to in the future, the preferred type of location is the seaside/coast (52%), followed by lakes/lochs (17%) then rivers/estuaries (13%). There has been a big jump in numbers who desire to live near to docklands (7% compared to 1% in 2017).

Those living in London currently are the most likely to be seeking a property with direct water access for a boat such as a mooring (69%), paying up to 10% extra for this (43%). 

Image courtesy Garden Affairs

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Wanderlust: Starring role for garden office

The new BBC series Wanderlust by Nick Payne which debuted last night starring Toni Colette and Steven Mackintosh has attracted attention due to its supposedly 'steamy' nature as a kind of sex comedy. Which is all very well, but the chief reason for watching is of course the marvellous garden office out of which Colette's character Joy Richards who works from home as a therapist. As the shots above indicate, it's pretty spacious with plenty of bookshelf space, various comfortable furnishings, and some huge windows (the blinds of which Joy closes when things get 'steamy' inside).

Suffering garden office envy watching #wanderlust

— Ian Critchley (@iancritchley4) September 4, 2018

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