Garden office research and development

An interesting short piece by Charlie Dalton of Smart Garden Offices and micro living specialists Zedbox about investment in the future, R&D tax credits, and government support packages. Here's a snippet:

We've always been tech-led, and new product development has been core to our astronomical growth over the last few years (Smart has quadrupled in size in just 4 years) but it had always been incidental to the business and, in truth, rather ad-hoc. We started our concerted R&D programme quite gently with an in house team and small barn separate from our main factory in late 2016, but by mid 2017 it became quite apparent that we needed to create more resource to accommodate our internal demand. Hence we created our own high-tech resource and recruited an exceptional team of individuals to propel and improve our products to become world class

Well worth a read, whether you're a supplier or a shedworker. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

Garden office covered with ivy

A lovely garden office writing studio designed by Matt Gibson Architecture and Interior Design Studio from Melbourne, Australia, in conjuntion with Ben Scott Garden Design. Covered with Boston Ivy, it is 107 sq ft, run using solar power, and built using sustainably sourced wood. Inside, the walls are covered with special plywood panels. Here's what the architects say about it:

"The notion of the Writer's Shed holds a particularly romantic allure for many - at once, a specific and mysterious realm of creative and imaginative conception. It provides a sanctuary away from the distractions of the world - both the physical and mental space for a wandering mind to roam."

Images by Shannon McGrath and more images here. -------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Free tickets for The London Homebuilding & Renovating Show

The London Homebuilding & Renovating Show is returning to ExCeL (September 21 - 23),  sponsored this year by Checkatrade and Nethouseprices. Across three full days, visitors can speak to over 500 exhibitors and access free advice sessions, seminars and masterclasses on essential topics which can tackle any problem, from implementing the latest intelligent security systems to funding a remodelling project.

We've arranged that all readers of Shedworking can claim a free pair of tickets. Simply click www.homebuildingshow.co.uk/shedworking and follow the instructions. Please note that tickets must be redeemed before on 3pm on 20 September 2018 and see the Terms and Conditions below.

1. A pair of tickets is worth £16 based on the advanced ticket price and £24 on the door. Tickets are valid for entry on one day of the exhibition. Children aged 16 years and under are able to attend free of charge.

2. Please note that the free daily seminars and masterclasses can’t be booked in advance but visitors should arrive early to each slot to guarantee a seat. Please see more about seminar and workshop timetable via the show website here

3. The one-on-one appointments can only be booked on entry to the show and are offered on a first come first served basis. Arrive early to avoid disappointment.

To retrieve their tickets, readers must click on the link, fill out their details and print off their tickets to take to the show. Tickets must be redeemed before the link expires on 3pm the day before each event. ------------------------------------

Sunday posts are sponsored by eDEN Garden Rooms. Stunning, bespoke high quality garden rooms, to suit your unique space and style

The Cave Company

Building garden rooms using former shipping containers became very popular half a dozen years ago and Wetherby-based The Cave Company speciailises in doing just that. Obviously made of metal, they come with fully-insulated walls, roofs and flolors, built-in vapour barriers and a de-humidfier. Because they can be easily craned in and out, you can take them with you if you move home. Optional extras include wooden decking, green roof, and sun awnings.

Door and window openings done. Now the hard work starts. pic.twitter.com/zn3dYjmgrl

— thecavecompany (@thecavecompany) July 14, 2018

-------------------------------------------------------

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

How to build a timber-framed yurt

If you like yurts and fancy building your own, Rotunda Roundhouses has an interesting case study on their site following the progress of Paul Irish from Somerset-based The Yurt Retreat.

"His vision was for a Roundhouse he could design and build himself to the standards and aesthetics which would tie in with his existing style," says Gemma Roe, owner of Rotunda. His site already had four luxury 20ft yurts (not to mention a treehouse, luxury shepherds huts and boutique barn conversions), so Paul was after something that would fit well among that selection.

"Guided by his requirements, Rotunda designed and built the cassettes only, the structural framework, and provided him with the  walls and the roof panels which cleverly slot into their positions and bolt onto the structural steelwork at the dome aperture," explains Gemma. "As with all of our self-build kits, we always install the structure and leave it watertight prior to handing it over to the client on site. In this instance, we erected the walls and roof. We gave him the bolt-on service of  tiling the roof with the 100% recycled flexible eco-slates and then left Paul and his team to work their magic."

Click the link at the top of this post for more details and photos of the build. Excellent photo by Matthew Heritage.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

Art studio

It's nice to see shots of a garden office in situ to give some idea of how they look in the real world outside the loveliness of brochures. Here's a good example of an art studio in Sussex belonging to artist Vivienne Shanahan, built by Green Studios, and overlooking the rest of the garden and house. Originally she had been using the dining room as a work area but realised that she needed a separate space.

The spec included natural cedar wood flooring, open board cladding, and sliding doors, the whole build requiring planning permission because of its location in a national park.

 

------------------------------------------

Wednesday posts are sponsored by Eurodita, the leader in serving smart dealers

Garden room timeline

We're often asked how long it takes to get a garden office into your back garden. The answer is, usually, much quicker than you might think. Here's an example from eDEN Garden Rooms of what they did with a 5.6m x 3m multi-use space at a semi-detached home in Wimbledon (so all materials and tools were taken through a side access point which speeded things up a bit) with integrated store, double doors, floor-to-ceiling windows, and fire retardant concrete panels.

* March 13: Initial site visit. Two days later eDEN sent full drawings and a comprehensive quote through to the client for consideration.

* March 28: After a couple of rounds of tweaks and re-drafts, the client signed off on their preferred design, and a site build slot was booked and all materials ordered

* April 24: Team on-site, removing the earlier shed and clearing the site, ready for the construction team

* May: Build began in the first week of May and the two-week build allocation took eight days on-site for the garden room to be completed, and the keys handed over to the client

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning