17
Bricks&Mortar
Commute
from Petworth,
the UK’sclassiest town
page 28The 3.6m-diameter polycarbonate Hypedome Garden Pod has a zip door and can be used in all weathers; £3,208, hypedome.com. Below: Ben Allen designed this garden room for his brother’s family
Build
your own
bubble
“The idea is that they are luxurious,
but beautifully simple and raw. The
materials are the key.” Materials
include reclaimed cladding stripped
from century-old barns across
Europe and applied to exterior
and interior walls, and
handmade tiles, made from
minerals, sand, cement and
crushed marble coloured with
natural pigments.
“So many prefabricated
spaces feel really clinical and
therefore not calming — they feel
very office-y. The Study Box uses
materials that connect you to the
outside. You walk in and you
immediately relax.” A wood-burning
stove is an optional extra and, thanks toG
arden rooms could
have been invented
with summer 2020
in mind. These
backyard buildings
can supply overspill
accommodation for
staycationing families
whose Balearic breaks are on hold and,
come the autumn, be repurposed as a
secluded home office. For those with
spending money and a job that suits
remote working, an extra building in the
garden is top of the post-Covid wish list.
Architect-designed outdoor rooms are
this year’s answer to shepherd huts. The
latest to launch is the Study Box. Lou
Davies, the founder of Box 9 Design and
designer of the timber-lined cube, says:underfloor heating, structurally insulated
panels and Crittall-style high thermal-
performance double-glazed windows,
the box promises to be cosy all year
round (from £27,500 plus VAT,
bertsbox.co.uk).
Last year Ben Allen, an
architect, designed a garden
building for his brother’s family,
which came into its own when
the pandemic confined them
to home. “It was designed as an
office for Rachel [Allen’s sister-
in-law, a nutritionist], however
during lockdown they were both
sharing it,” Allen says. It also served
as a place for the couple’s two children
to have sleepovers and as a quiet retreat
Continued on page 18Invest in a garden
room that can
be a home office
come autumn. By
Katrina Burroughs