GARDEN STUDIO

Situated in the heart of London’s Stoke Newington this bold, black garden building serves as a studio for our printmaking client. Commissioned with the brief of creating a year-round useable and inviting space, with studio facilities and storage, we designed and built this high-spec garden room as an extension of the house, albeit one you have to walk across the garden to get to. 

Sho Sugi Ban (Burnt waxed Cedar) vertical cladding covers the whole building with its rich texture, colour, and excellent resistance to insects and rot. The roof is covered in a rubber membrane and features a two-metre squared remote control 90 degree opening skylight, to let in sufficient light and air circulation on hot days. The door and window are both double glazed Aluminium finished in black and echo the rectangular features of the garden studio.

Insulated from the outside using 100mm Celotex insulation, and in stark contrast to the external colouration, the internal walls and surfaces are clad in a light Birch Ply, giving the inside of the studio a very light and airy feel. During the colder winter months, the garden studio is kept warm by the electric underfloor heating set into the polished screed floor, allowing the client to make the most of the studio space, which includes a desk that looks out of the window back towards the house, a number of push-to-open cupboards, an open shelving unit on the wall, a Belfast sink with hot and cold running water, mains power and Wifi.

FINISHING TOUCHES

Such a personal project as this wouldn’t be complete without some unique elements. We designed and made a desk organiser, apron hooks and a print drying rack using Birch Ply offcuts, and fabricated some Copper taps, which finish the studio off nicely alongside the giant Copper cat – supplied by the client!