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Writer’s Shed

Status: Completed 2013
Client: Private
Location: Hackney, London
Architects: Weston Surman & Deane Architecture Ltd.
Lead Contractors: Weston Surman & Deane Architecture Ltd.
Photography: Wai Ming Ng
Team: Percy Weston, Tom Surman, Joseph Deane

In collaboration with architect and maker Joseph Deane, we were commissioned by an author and illustrator to design & build a ’Writer’s Shed’. Capitalising on our multi-disciplinary backgrounds, we acted as designers, project managers, and lead contractors.

The design responds to the client’s passion for children’s literature and mythologies. The space is conceived as a haven in the city; a fairy-tale hut at the bottom of the garden where the client can retreat and immerse himself in his work.

Externally, the glowing cedar facade, shingle cladding, log store and chimney all play a part in creating this world. Inside, a large north-facing skylight floods the workspace with natural light. On the gable wall, a bookcase meanders around the wood burning stove, providing a centre piece for the client to store his library of books. Looking back out over the garden, the glazed sliding door gives onto a covered verandah – a space perfect to enjoy the very worst of the British weather.

The Writer’s Shed was short-listed for the Architects’ Journal Small Projects Competition 2014 and won the Hackney Design Award and Hackney Peoples’ Choice award 2015.

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