Unmanned tiny shops in Sweden

An interesting article in The Guardian about Lifvs, a new supermarket chain in Sweden - no stranger to the concept of small working spaces - which is using (large) garden office-sized units to provide unmanned shops in rural areas of the country with low population. They are up to 19 now and looking to expand, each shop built around a container design which can easily be set down and picked up again when required.  Well worth a read.

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Polhus: Swedish garden offices

We regularly feature Sweden on Shedworking because of their long history of building sheds and other shedlike structures such as Friggebod. Here's an update on garden offices there from our regular Swedish correspondent:

"In Sweden we are again advised by the authorities to work from home as much as possible. The pandemic has not resulted in a big boost of shoffices, but there is a clear demand for bigger flats and houses so homeworkers can get the extra space needed. But now one producer of tiny houses and cabins seems to have spotted a possible new market. Polhus is selling these cabins with - I guess - references to wellknown Swedish writers - August [pictured above] for Strindberg, Hjalmar for Gullberg and Selma for Lagerlöf. The August cabin is readymade and just needs a lift into the garden, the others you buy in a kit and assemble yourself."

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The 72 Hour Cabin

The 72 Hour Cabin project asked five people with stressful jobs (including broadcaster Ben Fogle) to live in bespoke glass cabins in Sweden and take part in various outdoor activities as well as living off grid. The results are unsurprisingly pretty positive - all five showed a significant decrease in blood pressure and heart rate, and an increase in levels of well-being and creativity (full details here).

Co-leader of the project Walter Osika, Researcher in Stress and Associate Professor at Karolinska Institutet, said: "I am positively surprised by the results and it shows that a Swedish ‘close to nature’ lifestyle can improve people’s well-being, at least in a short run. We saw a 70 percent decrease of stress, which is considerable"

You can now also book one of the cabins to try it out for yourself at Visit Sweden.


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Friggebod Friday - Fiskbod/Fiskhodda

As one travels around Scandinavia, one sees the shed format used in different ways, writes Sy Willmer, Shedworking's North Europe correspondent. Rental holiday cabins are popular with Swedes but even more appealing to mobile Germans and the travelling Dutch. Picture the scene, a natural beauty spot where the rolling pine forest meets the lake, holidaymakers frolicking in the clear waters and a petrol station surrounded by red and white cabins just off the motorway. Ok, not where one would choose to spend the entirety of the summer holidays but these places make an excellent overnight stay when moving across the Nordic region.Swedes, Norwegians, Finns and the Danes are naturally attracted to water and a Friggebod or Fiskbod (fisk = fish) is where one may choose to stay when sailing or fishing. In Scandinavia, fresh or sea water is never far away and the shed as boathouse is prevalent on the rocky west coast where Sweden meets Norway, up in the Fjords and in the archipelagos in the east between Stockholm and Finland. Scandinavia’s commercial fishermen also like a good shed, not only as boathouses but also for smoking and sales venues. In a similar manner to the front at Hastings in Sussex, excellent examples of traditional wooden Swedish fishmonger’s huts covered in layer upon layer of thick paint can be visited close to the museum and city castle of Malmö in southern Sweden. Fiskhodda is the local name for these charming buildings that are held in great affection in these parts.A two story shed is a viable option: compact of course but cosy in the extreme!

Green shed/friggebod

The marvellous Treehugger has a piece on designer Sy Willmer's version of a green garden shed produced as part of his university course in Sweden (where 'shed' translates as 'friggebod'). The result was a green roofed, solar panelled, modular building which can be used for shedworking as well as pottering. As it's green, naturally wood comes from sustainable forests and insulation is recycled paper. If you're in Sweden before June 2 you can see it exhibited at Röhsska Design Museum Göteborg. More information from Sy's site here. And if you haven't explored Treehugger, it's a marvellous site, genuinely global in scale and written expertly but sensibly, covering anything and everything that's 'green'. Well worth a look.

Friggebod Friday - Sopstugan: the rubbish cottage.

Sheds have a million and one uses, writes Shedworking's North Europe correspondent Sy Willmer. Needless to say everyone must have somewhere to put their rubbish and as the debate hots up surrounding the domestic chore of recycling home waste the good burghers of Malmö, Sweden, have taken the fight outside. We're all used to Scandinavian countries being some of the “greener” EU member states but consider the fact that most apartment buildings up north traditionally, and until recently, had a rubbish “shoot” found on each floor. So the transition from streamline convenience to taking all one’s rubbish down flights of stairs out into the snow has been quite a sacrifice.The Belgians get community tax incentives to encourage recycling but here Swedes receive improvements in the build environment. The example shown is constructed and finished with typically Nordic finesse. The building’s scale and material complement the surrounding low-rise urban block it services. This facility is with all the details you would want to see such as ramps, wide self opening doors, swipe card locks, vandalproof, plus with the inclusion of a “green roof”. Malmö is really is becoming Sedum Über Alles: as one of Scandinavia’s fastest expanding urban areas the city’s planners are committed to using green roof technology on the majority of flat roofs and low rise buildings and unlike a Nordic dish of dark Game meat and fruit jam, it looks good and you can sit on it.On the inside, larger models of “wheelie bins” or waste containers are parked side by side under illustrated information signs aiding the user to separate successfully. Waste collection services are then able to enter the shed for regular collection by means of a master key. The current norm when “doing the rubbish” at home in most of Europe is to just separate waste into recyclable material groups. In the future we will all have to go further and divide into categories, similar to what we do now with coloured glass but next will be types of plastic and metal. Several thousand kilometres south from here in Vienna they are already separating something like ten or more different types of individual material. I think that sheds may just save us – get your council to build you one today.

Swedish shed style

I am writing a piece about Swedish sheds at the moment for a periodical so thought I would share this excellent blog post on Lobster & Swan (who also have a lovely online home interiors shop The Future Kept) about turning a B&Q Apex shed into a thing of Swedish-like beauty. Here's what they say about it:

"Could this be the tiniest man cave ever? It has been painted the perfect shade of rusty Swedish red and filled with wood and lots of mannish things. Inspired by our travels to Sweden earlier this year, we decided Dean’s shed should be a mini version of a Swedish cabin."

Lots more interior shots at the top link.

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Friggebod Friday - Pildammsparken

Here we have some multi purpose sheds, a series constructed in Pildammsparken, Malmö, Sweden, writes Shedworking's northern Europe correspondent Sy Willmer. Realised from appealing chunky timber sections with industrial fixings and sitting on concrete pile foundations, they feature a fantastic array of flap down surfaces with open and enclosed spaces. They are used by a range of social groups such as the local scouts - theirs is surrounded by wigwams - and all are opened up during communal park activities, namely the summer open air music programme when concerts are held in the open green area of the crescent woodland where these sheds lie enclosed. As is often the case in the more northern climes of Europe there is a distinct lack of these sheds having suffered any abuse or vandalism. I have long pondered upon this difference of respect for the public space with other EU state’s societies. You the reader may have noticed this from the previous images I have posted of Scandinavian sheds in the community environment as part of this Friggebod Friday section. Perhaps it is the consideration in design or commitment to spend the taxpayer’s money wisely? I can’t answer that here, but these beauties sure beat the damp pre fab Nissen hut I spent every Wednesday night in as a youth.

Karl Ove Knausgaard: shedworker

Awardwinning Norwegian autobiographicalist-novelist Karl Ove Knausgård lives in the small village of Glemmingebro, Sweden, where he works in a writing studio in his back garden (picture above). He is often interviewed in his garden office by journalists which is split into two rooms full of books, chairs and a sofa, as well as his drum kit and guitars. A typical description comes from The Guardian: "With their mountains of unwashed coffee cups and other detritus, both rooms display a reassuring indifference to order. He apologises, explaining that he spent “about an hour” that morning tidying up for my visit."

The Wall Street Journal atmospherically compares it to a "post-apocalyptic college library"...

Entering his studio, I saw books everywhere—lined up in shelves, stacked on the floor, propped in piles leaning against other books—hardbacks and paperbacks, galleys and manuscripts, rising in towers from the coffee table. The room recalled a post-apocalyptic college library. Empty beer cans, Pepsi Max bottles, water glasses and coffee mugs rose amid the bookscape; and cigarette ash dusted everything, trailing in shallow rivulets between the books, bottles and crockery.... Sunlight spilled through the open door and window, and as we sat down, I heard leaves rustle in the garden and the unfamiliar caws of Swedish birds. 

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Friggebod Friday - Skåne Christmas market

I’ve been busy out and about like most others doing my Christmas shopping and preparing for the annual mid winter festival, writes Shedworking' Northern Europe correspondent Sy Willmer. Never one to miss a shed retail opportunity I visited this Scandinavian shed market in Skåne, Sweden, where I found that traditional Lapland reindeer herder’s hat my Gran asked for and the book detailing herring pickling through the ages for my cousins in Australia.After a good dose of retail therapy I refuelled on German style schnitzel and mould wine, all on site, then I was home in time for the Abba documentary (I kid you not). Lovely examples of what can be done with the format of a temporary city market, much more cosy for the men and women running them than an open sided market stall. So the 10 points once again go to la Suède.

Sportskabin + exclusive Shedworking offer

Garden2office is now offering a 25-29sq m Sportskabin from Sweden using their highly insulated closed panel system. The one above is in Wandsworth, London, clad with Swedish Thermowood and features a garden shed section at one end plus a bathroom. Visitors who mention Shedworking will get the Climate Pack (radiator and heat recovery unit) FREE if they order before March 31 2010. It features full 140mm thick insulated wall blocks (190mm with plasterboard and cladding), standard triple glazing with laminated timber frame windows, 1.2 U-value, maintenance-free galvinised steel Plannja roof, front canopy with key-fob operated lighting and Thermowood cladding.

Sauna Snug

Following on from last week's Trend Note that our staff have noticed increasing numbers of suppliers not merely suggesting uses for their garden buildings but actually building ones for specific uses, here's the Sauna Snug from  Plankbridge which is large enough for four people at a time.

The shepherd's hut specialists have seen a major uptick in customers interested in outdoor saunas so have come up with this 14ft design aimed at people with private gardens, as well as glamping and hospitality businesses. Features include a sustainable Scandinavian aspen lining sourced from Sweden, separate changing area, under-bench storage, and either wood-fired or electric.

"The growth in the wellness-at-home market has definitely been reflected in the number of enquiries we’ve received at Plankbridge over the past year or so for saunas, hot tubs and treatment rooms," said Plankbridge founder Richard Lee. "And while we’ve designed various bespoke sauna huts for customers before, including one for a ski lodge in the French Alps and another which is now sitting beside a swimming pond in Herefordshire, this is the first time we have taken an existing Plankbridge hut model – the Snug, which is based on the proportions of the Victorian originals and the most traditional of all our shepherd’s huts – and used it for this very specific purpose."

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Garden office inspired by ABBA

An excellent interview with Barnsley-based shedworking writer Max Reid by Sharon Dale in the Yorkshire Post . Designed by architect Mark Booth with interiors by Ben Huckerby and built by Cedar Garden Rooms, features include a day bed and a kitchenette. Here's a snippet:

“I wanted somewhere that was quiet and had no distractions and I remembered that Abba went off to a log cabin in the hills of Sweden for six months to write some of their best music. So I suggested to my wife that I could do the same.” 

 Lots more details about the build and Max's new musical at the link.

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Elding Oscarson garden office + townhouse

A lovely garden office by Elding Oscarson in the garden of a splendid home in Landskrona, Sweden. There are lots more cracking photos by Åke E:son Lindman at the site and plans too. Well worth a browse.Via workalicious by unplggd
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Harads: invisible treehouse shedworking

Now here's a way to hoodwink the planners, make your garden office invisible (as well as up in a tree). This marvellous shedlike structure - actually a very bijou hotel in Sweden - comes from Tham and Videgard Hansson. They call the 4m cube a 'shelter in the trees' and it's built out of aluminium and plywood with walls clad in mirrored glass. You'll be relieved to know that there are special stickers which only birds can see to prevent them whacking into the sides.Via Trendhunter
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Friggebod Friday - Öland: island of sheds

Off the east coast of Sweden lies the nation’s second largest island, Öland, writes Sy Willmer, Shedworking's north Europe correspondent. It's a favoured vacation destination for all shapes and sizes of Scandinavians in the warmer mouths and home to a community of islanddwellers who when not employed in the tourist industry are occupied with sailing, agriculture and small fishing concerns. Charming villages are arranged around the long thin coastline and one finds a wealth of sheds related to all of the island’s activities used by fisherman, farmers and holidaymakers, through to artists' ateliers. The livestock of choice here is the ever popular sheep (shepherds are well known to the readers of Shedworking as the mothers of shed invention). On my arrival on Öland my first destination was the island’s southern tip, favoured by birdwatchers and the Swedish royal family, to view a well preserved traditional “Herdes skjul” or shepherd's hut.Shed technology has a long history on Öland and the island is home to some excellent examples of classic Nordic sheds. The pitch roof is worthy of mention, especially the timberwork that is different to that present on British thatched roofs. The interior is lined and plastered creating a cosy retreat for the sheep professional from the elements of this windswept island.

The farmers of Öland have been productive the length and breadth of the island - while circumnavigating one frequently finds the familiar Scandinavian red lock panel style of shed by the side of the road. But my particular favourite is the pole mounted version. Life on an island can be full of surprises and as the wise men of Öland are fond of reminding wandering shed enthusiasts, look out for your shed and your shed will look out for you.

Greener garden office insulation + EcoBuild Show

Mark Ramuz from Garden2office writes in response to the piece on greener SIPS last week on Shedworking:

"I thought I should send you a picture of the panels we use in our garden buildings. Sweden wants to be the world's first oil-free economy within the next 15 years and that means the oil-based expanded foam type insulation found in SIPS and many other garden buildings just isn't an option. Instead, we use a thick 120mm or 145mm layer of glass wool insulation, composed of anything up to 80% recycled material. This type of insulation is also an ideal way of soundproofing a city garden office as well as keeping it warm."

Mark will also have a stand at the EcoBuild Show, Earls Court, 3-5 March 2009 and suggests this could be a good time to meet up with other shedworkers and suppliers. As he points out: "Even if readers already have a shed, there are loads of credit-crunching ideas for powering, lighting and insulating their home office. It could be a good place to meet other shedworkers and do some networking plus the chance of a strong coffee and Swedish biscuits on our stand." You can apply for an invitation directly from Garden2office's site.

Friggebod Friday - an introduction

Sheds are held in high esteem by the British public, writes Sy Willmer, Shedworking's Northern Europe correspondent. They take pride of place in most private gardens, enable one to live out Arthur Fowler fantasies on municipal allotments and help shelter sandwiches from sand in much loved beach huts. Yet they are not not alone in their specific shedness: in Britain’s neighbouring European countries one also finds the allotment, garden shed and surf shack. In Holland the Dutch Arthur Fowler may know his weekend retreat as a Volkstuinhuisje (people’s garden cottage) and in Swedish life “dad’s calendar” hangs in the Friggebod. So when is a shed not a shed? When it is a Friggebod.
Sheds are as important to the Nordic societies as they are to the British and the Friggebod is an interesting introduction to the world of Scandinavian sheds for its name reflects the differing attitudes of building law in the European Union. Sweden allows for single story construction of less than 4 metres high (pitched) with an area of up to 15 square metres without the need for permitted building development application. The name is wordplay for the housing minister who first introduced this rule, Brigit Friggebo, and the Swedish word for a shed is Bod.

Scandinavia like most countries has a long tradition of shed building. In fact the Swedish word Bod means more than a just a shed as it commonly refers to a facility that has more possibilities than a building centre purchased “put up” to cover the lawn mower. Then again as expectations differ from place to place, to the average Swede a Friggebod is a shed - consider the Volvo and the Rover.
So what can be highlighted as Friggebod features? The standard area of a Friggebod, 15m2, can adequately accommodate a range of activates from woodworking to home office usage. 15m2 also supplies room enough for a sauna, gym and even overnight accommodation in one’s garden or closer to a hobby or work location. Buildings of these dimensions merit the inclusion of insulation, substantial roofing, doors, windows and the installation of basic building services. A fully kitted out example makes an excellent one room cottage that Thoreau would have been pleased to frequent.
Tradition prevails in Scandinavia: exterior coverings of timber “lock panel” and “sidings” (see image above) are the norm from coast to coast. Colouring of red and yellow never go out of favour for the Swedes and not left too long to fade, although Norwegians seem to just go for dark stained brown wood. A Friggebod can of course be constructed by a building firm or purchased as a self assembly kit but what is really about is building one’s own. Deciding how it will be look, getting the building materials and dragging in friends and family can be a cultural rite of passage in a society far less suburban than others. But whether its Bod, hut or cabin, everyone loves a shed.

A House for Edwin Denby

Regular Shedworking reader Arne König writes from Sweden that the Thoreau inspired cabin featured on the site earlier this week made him think of this cabin in southern Swede. It's an art installation by Robert Wilson called A House for Edwin Denby which is sited in the sculpture park at the Wanås Konst – Center for Art & Learning in Skåne. A celebration of the life and work of the Amerian poet and critic, it has a simple Shaker feel but as you approach loudspeakers relay a text of Wilson reading a text. You can't actually go into the building, but you can peer through to see a chair and table.

Photo: Anders Norrsell

A House for Edwin Denby av Robert Wilson from Ljudplanering on Vimeo.

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Kings Langley studio

Kings Langley is just around the corner from Shedworking HQ in sunny Hertfordshire. Garden2office has been busy there putting up this rather attractive studio. The non-solvent black paint used on the build is made from rocks extracted from the copper mine in Sweden's Falun area and the office was built to match the owner's Swedish house. Features include a sink, exposed truss
rafters and lightweight recycled slate tiles.

Garden2office is also offering a free floor-to-ceiling triple glazed window, worth over £700, with all units ordered from now until February 3. If you're interested, get in touch with Mark.