Unique Circular Garden Rooms, modular school buildings and lodges - Handcrafted in the UK
Above & Beyond: Eco Furnishings
Today we were tasked with a slightly unusual request; – To source a high quality, ethically made, circular rug to feature in the centre of a client’s 4.5m Rotunda, “Roundel”. We enthusiastically obliged, excited at the opportunity to further our research into Eco furnishings to suit our Eco garden buildings.
It’s not uncommon for us to receive enquiries for bespoke furnishings for Rotundas, and it is one of the most exciting aspects of offering such an innovative garden room as it opens up so many opportunities to source creative alternatives to the bog standard fixture and fittings. What is even more fantastic is that because the Rotunda is such a beautiful and ethical piece of craftsmanship, it inspires our clients to rethink their usual furniture options and instead seek out pieces that reflect the quality of their garden building, often opting for natural and Eco alternatives.
After a bit of research into environmentally friendly rugs we came across ‘rag rugs’ which are usually made from cloth scraps, old sheets, and up-cycled t-shirts. Due to the nature of the materials, the finished result is colourful and intricate, and looks both beautifully simple and yet strangely complex; not unlike a Rotunda. It was immediately clear that this fantastic example of Eco furnishings was the perfect addition to a circular Eco-building.
Once we had confirmed that the ‘rag rug’ concept was one to be pursued it wasn’t long before we not only found a wonderful craftswoman who makes beautiful, large rugs from organic cotton, but also the perfect design to suit Roundel’s spirit. The circular Eco rug, is crafted from a long braid of fabric that spirals outwards to create a mesmerising pattern of colour and texture. The particular creation which caught our eye transitioned from warm yellow to light teal creating an image of a golden sun radiating out into a clear sky which we thought mirrored the ideal view through the central dome of the Rotunda’s cathedral roof beautifully.
As a modular buildings manufacturer we could easily refuse to offer any kind of soft furnishing advice and many companies in our industry believe firmly that their obligations extend no further than providing the base building; even a paint finish is considered an optional extra. We believe that Rotunda is more than just an Eco building and that we are actually creating a full space that enriches the lives of those who use it; if this calls for us to go above and beyond then we are happy to accept that challenge.
If you are interested in developing your own Rotunda space with us then please don’t hesitate to get in contact and begin your journey to creating your own creative solutions in the round.
The Ergonomics of a Garden Office
er·go·nom·ics
Noun: The study of efficiency in working environments.
Let me fix my beady little eyes on you for a moment and ask the all important question… “What is a Garden Office?”
…A building at the bottom of the garden, you say? An insulated shed? (Hmm… another try perhaps…) some of you might like to think of a garden office as a high-spec modular building, the ultra modern alternative to a home extension…? Close… An eco-pod…? Well, yes; I suppose all of the above are true, because the simplest way to define it is a room or building being used as a place of work, in the garden. A garden office could be just about anything, old potting shed, an uber-modern prefab or a 30ft greenhouse (incidentally, there are some garden offices which do bear a striking resemblance a greenhouse if you’re looking for that kind of thing). With the wide array of Garden Offices available in the UK at the moment, the choice and varying specifications are staggering (granted, we’re one of the more unusual ones). So, what do you look for? What makes it appropriate for work? How can one vary so much from another? Surely they’re all meant to do the same thing, right? Not necessarily.
Any space where you will spend most of your working day or will spend your time doing those things that you plan on using your garden office for (a craft room, art studio, music studio, secluded hideaway…) must therefore be designed for that purpose. I remember installing a beautiful O-Pod in Kent for an artist who wanted a minimalist space and was absolutely thrilled with the natural daylight which flooded in through the roof-light dome, the sparse unfurnished whitewashed walls and simple engineered oak floor which gave him the perfect minimalist studio. The following week however, we designed and installed little 3m diameter classroom for a local primary school and fitted it with brightly painted floor to ceiling bookcases, low level desks, bright green 2ft high frog-themed chairs and high-level shelving which ran around most of the perimeter of the room. It was jam packed with toys and learning equipment, and it was designed to be used in this way.
One thing to consider when purchasing a garden office or outdoor home office is how you will furnish it, if the garden building manufacturer provides this service and what does it need to do to bring out your most productive side? From experience, I’ve worked in a circular garden office for several years and the energy in the space is nothing short of invigorating. It’s bizarre how busy and uplifted one can feel in a space with no corners. But don’t just take my word for it, pushing my esoteric claims aside for a moment, there IS a certain logic to using a circular garden office; let me explain why:
With a Curved Wall comes a Curved Desk
I remember reading an article by Laurence Llewelyn Bowen several years ago passionately divulging the infinite benefits of the ‘Radial Kitchen’ which held me in rapture. Such an odd concept, who’d have thought of a round kitchen…? But, it makes sense! Once you remove the corners and design your kitchen to a perfect circle, you have an astonishingly functional environment which curves around you like a flight-deck. Nothing is out of reach but nothing gets in your way. Deep cupboards make up the lost space where the corners once were and the flow around such an environment is just ideal. So incredibly functional. The same goes for a working office environment. A curved desk, along with curved shelves running above and alongside makes much more sense, ergonomically. You’re just one swivel chair away from perfect productivity!
Optimum Levels of Natural Daylight
Back in the Victorian era there were several Round Houses built in England as domestic homes for wealthy landowners who were caught up in a superstitious belief that the ‘devil could hide in corners’. As amusing as this might seem to us nowadays, there is a definite advantage to eliminating those dark shadowy corners and building in the round. Light, bright, airy spacious curves! The light simply bounces off the walls. We’ve found that with the addition of a double glazed roof-light dome in the centre of the ceiling, the natural daylight floods the room even when it’s in a shady position. This makes a circular space ideal for any creative pursuits, and will certainly save you needing to flick that light-switch on the way in to the garden office. You’ll find that as long as it’s daylight, the room will be light and airy. It’s something called ‘Solar Gain’ and my goodness, it works.
Excellent Acoustics
Whether this is due to the fact that there are no seams and/or corners which can allow for noise to leak from, or just that sound reverberates particularly well in a circular space, a round building promotes excellent acoustics and our little Rotundas are practically soundproof. We’ve tested it on several occasions, albeit not the most scientific of processes with one person jumping up and down like a crazed chimpanzee and shouting at the top of their lungs whilst several of us stand outside the door straining to hear them, but, I’m sure this goes part-way to explaining how we’ve come to this conclusion. Nevertheless, if you’ve got important conference calls which you need to make and you don’t want to be disturbed by your children playing in the garden or a Boeing 747 flying overhead, this might be something which could actually enhance your productivity.
Airflow and Energy Saving
Ok, a little more technical than the previous points but one of the most important! The ‘thermal dynamics’ in a round garden room means that the air circulates naturally and the heat is retained in the building as it rotates slowly. In essence, the warm air gently rises in the room and hits the cool surface of the roof-light dome in the centre. This then cools the air and it slowly drops down again in the middle of the space only to then circulate upwards again and it repeats this invisible merry dance, naturally. Providing you with a warm and airy environment which of course, can only provide you (and your pot-plants) with the most optimal productive garden office environment!
Fewer Chemicals in Construction
Worryingly unbeknownst to the majority of us, there are plenty of hidden ‘nasties’ out there in the modern built environment such as Polystyrene, Polyurethane, formaldehyde and other chemicals, plastics and resins which are known carcinogens. Sick building syndrome is a poorly understood phenomenon where people have a range of symptoms related to a certain building, most often a workplace, and it’s believed to be down to some of the toxins we’re breathing in though the walls, paint finishes and compounds released by everyday building materials. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the air inside your home is 2 to 5 times more polluted than the outdoors and this could also be the case with a new outdoor studio or garden office. In Australia, researchers watched what happened when a small law firm moved from their normal office building into a 5 Green Star-rated space. They found that sick leave was reduced by 39%, typing speed and accuracy improved by 9% and the lawyers’ billable hours increased by 7%. Workers also self-reported fewer headaches and eye soreness. Perhaps then, it’s worth noting which chemicals are being used inside the cavity of the garden offices that might have caught your eye? If it’s a petrochemical based polystyrene or polyurethane it might be wise to ask for a natural alternative. After all, an eco-pod or eco garden office filled with carcinogens but acclaimed for it’s aesthetics and air-tightness might be akin to smoking being hailed as ‘healthy’ in the 1920’s. We’ve still got a long way to go!
All in all, if you’re looking for a productive working environment, it’s the little things that we might overlook which could end up making all the difference. Natural Daylight, great air quality, high-performance (natural) insulation, great acoustics and curved furniture might be those little (but big) details which could make your work day in a garden office the most productive you could possibly imagine.
Blogpost written by Gemma Roe.
Copyright © Rotunda Eco Build Ltd.