STUNNING OUTDOOR ROOMS for work and play
(THAT’S WORKING FROM THE GARDEN)
The pandemic has made us rethink the way we live and work. Meet the lucky people who have swapped the daily commute for a trip down their garden path
t’s handy to have an architect in the family, and when Rachel and Jonnie Allen from Putney, southwest London, first thought about creating a room in their garden, they consulted Jonnie’s brother, Ben. The couple’s thoughts of a traditional garden room went out of the window when Ben came up with an eight-sided, yurt-style office with ‘artichoke petal’ cladding.
‘Ben designs offices for my engineering company,’ says Jonnie, ‘so I know for all his design flamboyance his work is based on sensible ideas!’ The couple have lived in their three-bedroom ground-floor flat for about 10 years, but with a growing family – Evie, eight, and Grace, five – and working from home looking like the way forward, making more use of the garden became very appealing. Rachel, a registered nutritionist, says the Octopod is so much grander than she envisaged: ‘The green interior also took a bit of getting used to – I’m more about natural wood and beams – but now I love it! And, a year later with the various lockdowns, we don’t know what we would have done without the option of a garden commute – it’s been a godsend. We were surprised how big it feels inside and yet it doesn’t take up too much space as the garden wraps around it.’
Jonnie says: ‘We’re into sustainable living, so we were pleased that being timber and well-insulated, the new build didn’t create a huge carbon footprint. It came as a flatpack kit, fully fabricated on a 3D-machine, with the timber elements all notched and pre-drilled – they’re all replaceable so it should last several decades.’ Although the build name for the office was The Artichoke, it’s now lovingly referred to as The Octopod: ‘We were inspired after watching the Octonauts TV programme with the children!’ says Rachel. ‘Jonnie and I share The Octopod and use it 10-12 hours a day, most days. It has double doors that can be fully pushed back in warm weather and the desk is perfectly positioned in front of a large window. When I have to concentrate on work, I find it a lovely peaceful space, listening to the birds and the occasional rumble of the Tube nearby.
‘The Octopod is just right for our needs. Ben even designed a clever bench that becomes a double fold-out bed. The girls love the extra room and have had several Zoom birthday parties in there – they feel they can get away from us although we can still see them from the flat. We even got to fit in a couple of small get-togethers for our 40th birthdays last autumn – and hope to have more visitors soon.’
‘With the various lockdowns, the option of having a peaceful place to work has been a godsend’