Fancy a shed party in 2024?

An open letter from Uncle Wilco which has just dropped into my invoice which may well be of interest to readers:

So 2024 is the 18th year since I came up with this idea of Shed of the year #shedoftheyear - it's been a weird creation that has taken on a world of itself, brought a lot of joy not only to myself (and given me some sort of career out of a hobby of liking sheds) but I hope it's brought a bit of fun to hundreds of sheddies around the world who have created some of the best spaces out there. 

I first registered the domain name readersheds.co.uk on 03-Jul-2000 (that will be 24 years next year, which is even madder, and I built a shed sharing website soon after.) But it was not until 2007 I decided to run a competition as I thought the British shed should be celebrated. 

I would love to have a party. Maybe sometime around July 2024. So I will get my thinking cap on...... and if you have any ideas let me know.... and maybe someone with a massive shed could host it and hopefully the sheddies, old and new, could meet up.

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Wednesday posts are sponsored by Booths Garden Studios, the UK's No.1 supplier of zero maintenance and portable garden studios

 

Garden offices for children

 

 

Garden offices for children, otherwise known as outdoor classrooms, are one of the biggest growth areas for the sector in recent years. Here are two examples from SMART who point out that: "Using a garden room for an education facility is a cost-effective, quick way to provide extra space to students. Not only will it benefit students but the environment too."

 

Pictured top is one of their Key Studio models at Sir Robert Hitcham’s CEVA Primary and Nursery School in Framlingham, Suffolk, used as an outdoor class and bathroom with disabled access. Above is the inside of another Key Studio design, an outdoor library at Rattlesden Primary School in Bury Saint Edmunds.

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Malvern Garden Buildings offer a premium collection of garden buildings, displayed at 11 UK showsites.

Garden office ex-display models

An excellent way to bag a garden office bargain can be to invest in an ex-display model. They don't crop up that often so you need to keep an eye on garden office suppliers' websites or sign up for their newsletters (Booths and SMART are among those who have alerts). The examples pictured above come from Malvern Garden Offices' latest offerings - as they say "Now one of these stunning garden buildings can have pride of place in your garden for an amazing ex-display price!"

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Monday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, contemporary living spaces offering premium quality, bespoke buildings without the hefty price tag.

 

Seaside shelters in new issue of Idler magazine

The latest issue of the Idler is out with my usual column on garden offices and other microbuildings, which this time round focuses on the shedlike seaside shelters around the country. Not just delightful places to hide from the British summer weather, they have also provided third place shedlike working environments as this excerpt explains:

Their appeal has always been wide. King Edward VII and his wife Queen Alexandra spent time on Brighton’s seafront in its shelters, and various examples elsewhere around the country including in Skegness and Margate are similarly now Grade II listed. The Margate shelter’s listing followed a campaign supported by the likes of Andrew Motion and Alan Bennett to memorialise the spot where TS Eliot, recuperating from a breakdown, wrote part of ‘The Waste Land’ (“On Margate Sands./I can connect/Nothing with nothing./The broken fingernails of dirty hands./My people humble people who expect/Nothing.”)

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Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

 

His & Hers garden studios

Rather than get one huge garden office, it can sometimes work out better to get two smaller ones in terms of space and aesthetic appeal. Here's an example of his and hers buildings from Garden Affairs - they're not quite the same size although along similar lines and in the same colour. This one below is a 3.5m x 2.5m Linea model.

And here's the second, a 2.75m x 2.2m Linea.

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 Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and   

 studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional

 buildings.

Dark Matter garden studio shortlisted for Wood Awards 2023

 

Congratlations to Berkhamsted-based architects Hyperspace for their shortlisting in the annual Wood Awards for their remarkable garage-to-garden office rebuild Dark Matter (profiled back in January this year on Shedworking). Details at the previous post, but features include:

- 850 scales of charred timber on the studio’s façade, with natural habitats for insects in the gaps between them

- a very wide pivoting entrance door

- a self-supporting roof with exposed timber rafters and poplar plywood interior

- two CNC-cut ‘light chimneys 

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SMART designs and manufactures industry leading garden rooms from our very own Suffolk factory and installed all over mainland UK

 

Garden office vs working in a coffee shop

Research by Broadband Genie shows some interesting figures about how we now hybrid work and also how 'third place' working in coffee shops stacks up against working from home in garden offices and other domestic locations.

According to their figures, one in four people work from a coffee shop at least once a week (Costa is the clear favourite, followed by Starbucks, and Caffè Nero in third place). The most common reasons people give is to be around other people (34%) and that it improves productivity (27%). One in seven say they simply prefer the atmosphere to their office and a similar number that they do so to save money on their energy bill.

But Broadband Genie estimates that the average person spends over £700 a year in coffee shops or, as they also point out, roughly double the typical annual broadband bill...

Alex Tofts, broadband expert at Broadband Genie, said: “Our research shows that many hybrid workers are also now adding their favourite coffee shop into the mix. The change of scenery can be particularly tempting if you’re not a fan of your home set-up, or frustrated by misfiring Wi-Fi. Yet, with the average latte setting you back £3.25, the cost of days in a coffee shop can quickly add up. For those looking to save money, there are many ways to improve your broadband connection that are far cheaper than buying a brew.”

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Malvern Garden Buildings offer a premium collection of garden buildings, displayed at 11 UK showsites.