10 www.homebusinessnetwork.co.uk Issue 3August 2009
fEATUrE :: SHED LifE SNAP SHOT
Get out in the garden
One of the biggest hurdles when working from home is finding the space. All the home working experts say you need to have a dedicated
area where you can close the door, keep the kids at bay and let others know you are ‘working’. If you don’t have a spare room or study,
then rather than commandeer a corner of the kitchen table, think about setting up in the shed. Not the 6ft x 4ft variety that you’ll share
with the spades and seedlings, but a purpose-built garden office. There are many ‘sheds’ that are custom-made as an outdoors office and
they come in a range of prices. Here we review just a few.
dab den garenberg
The Dab Den provides additional and Garenberg’s self build range starts
flexible space within your garden from a tad under £6,000. The stone
allowing you to work from home, or cedarwood chalets include under
separate from day-to-day life. Dab floor heating, choice of wood floor
Dens can be constructed in a matter and other options. “Your garden SNAP SH
OT
of days. They are all fully serviced room will usually add between 50%
and insulated and a toilet and kitchen and 120% of the build cost on to
can be added to increasing your your house value,” says Gavin Jones,
options of how it is used. product development director. Name: Lynn Fotherington
www.dabarchitecture.com
It also comes with the
Location: Lancashire
increasingly popular ‘sedum’ roof.
Company name: InsideOut Buildings
“Choosing the green roof with its
Eco den
Age: 54
carpet of sedum plants provides
Most useful item: Office in the garden
Eco Den is the latest product from an ever changing canvas of colour
Home worker tip: Get a dog; you
Alternative Space, a family business and wildlife. Both planners and
need the exercise and the company
specialising in eco-friendly garden neighbours also look kindly on
rooms, offices and studios.
when you work at home.
green roofs,” adds Gavin.
The largest Eco Den comes in at
Web: www.iobuild.co.uk
below £14,000 and for the price
www.garenberg.co.uk
you get footings and installation, as
“I was a freelance designer,
well as thoughtful details such as Ecospace
painting wallpapers and
timber Venetian blinds and internal Sleek glass and timber studios can be
furnishing fabics for the UK
decoration using Auro natural paint used as an outdoor office. Made from
printing industry but because
plus smoke and intruder alarms and a sustainable wood these come with a
Britain didn’t join the euro, I
fire extinguisher. shower and kitchen but at a price –
was unable to compete on price
A number of additional options are The cheapest is just under £19,000. with designers from other EU
also available; from a pergola and
www.ecospacestudios.com
countries. I decided that my
decking to a rainwater harvesting next business would not rely on
system. One option, that Eco Den
exchange rates and would provide
encourages, is the addition of a living Plant an OfficePOd in your garden
a top quality product and service
roof. The sedum ‘carpet’ improves No need to convert your garage or
that my clients couldn’t get
thermal efficiency while providing a commandeer your dining room. The
anywhere else.
lush outlook – and it provides more new OfficePOD is a ready-to-go office
So in 2003 I launched InsideOut
vegetation for the birds and bees. for your home business that can be
Buildings to rescue home workers
Eco Den, says Paul Marsden from ‘planted’ in your garden. Because it is
classed as a temporary structure and
driven mad by working in chaos in
Alternative Space, is built to last. It
it can be removed later, it does not
the house and move them out into
is constructed from super insulated
wood panels, breathable damp proof require planning permission.
warm dry offices in their gardens,
membranes and high specification The new British innovation has
anyone in fact who works from
double or quadruple glazing, The attracted hundreds of enquiries from
home, lives in a house they love and
roof is protected by an impermeable, traditional businesses
wants to invest in sympathetically
one piece outer membrane with looking to encourage staff to work
designed office in their garden.
a manufacturer’s guarantee of from home. A full service contract
We have built offices for everyone
50 years. The exterior is clad in including site survey, enabling
from artists and book binders
tongue and grooved cedar, a durable work, installation (with power and
to psychotherapists and plastic
hardwood. All structural elements are communications), helpdesk/customer
surgeons (the plastic surgeon only
pressure treated ensuring a life span support, relocation and removal does his paperwork at home!).
in excess of 20 years. costs £5,000 a year per employee, I was already working at home
www.alternative-space.com
including all the furniture.
and my partner, Gordon Smith,
“While companies are informally
who is an architect, was sick of
encouraging home-working,
commuting, but we were running
Q-century practical solutions to cement
out of living space. We were
These garden offices claim to be this commitment are few and far
discussing this with our friend Rob,
maintenance free being made from between,” says OfficePOD managing
who really is a rocket scientist, and
uPVC and light oak giving it a life director David Forbes. “We are
he suggested building a separate
expectancy of 25 years. They cost providing a solution that works for
office in the garden. We had a look
just over £9,500 and come with both the employee and employer
sockets and phone points. and seeking to further educate
at a few of the garden buildings
The business was set up by businesses about the huge benefits
that were available on the market
carpenter Alex Booth six years ago of allowing home-working as part
and weren’t impressed, so Gordon
and now employs 12. It’s based on of their operational structure. The
decided to design and build his own.
the border of Peterborough and efficiencies and savings are too
We then realised that we could do
Northants but installs all over the UK attractive to ignore.”
the same for other home workers.
from Stornaway to the Isle of Wight. OfficePOD is also proving popular
We are a virtual business with
It was after building a room at the with home business owners who
two directors, two building teams
bottom of his garden for his work want to keep their office completely
and various ‘remote’ assistants.
that Alex realised the full benefits of separate from their home. Outright The directors live in rural north
not working in the house. “I felt more purchase costs £20,000 and Lancashire, the building teams live
in control”, he says. “I made better installations are expected to start in in Cardiff and Birmingham, our
decisions, with better concentration, the new year.
virtual PA lives in Staffordshire
and more productivity.”
So Alex decided to design an
www.officepod.co.uk/hbn
and our telephone reception
service is based in north Wales.
affordable and insulated garden
We rely 99.9% on our natural
building. “The cheaper end of the
garden room market in the UK were
Photographs from top to bottom:
rankings on the internet. Our
simply sheds with more insulation, or
Ecoden
website is tremendously well
single skin buildings like log cabins,”
Q-Century
optimised and we rarely use
he says.
Garenberg
any form of advertising. Our
OfficePOD
business would not exist without
www.boothsgardenstudios.co.uk
InsideOut
the internet.”
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