A Small Garden Studio Constructed from a Redwood

Garden studio’s are a great way to keep your work and home life separate from one another. Architect, Sarah Deeds, created this cosy garden office that has a carbon footprint as small as it’s size – 120-square-feet.

The studio was built using a salvaged Redwood tree from California that was felled to allow the widening of a Sonoma County highway. All of the wood used in it’s construction is either FSC-certified or reclaimed. Sarah also incorporated a variety of green building techniques to minimise the structures carbon footprint.

The retreat was constructed adjacent to Sarahs primary residence, a renovated Victorian house. The entire studio was completed by Sarah and John McBride, a carpenter. Between them they sourced all of the materials, designed and constructed the retreat. By keeping it simple they were able to adjust details on the fly.

The most challenging aspect of the project was the odd shape of the structure, which was apparently necessary in order to maximise the interior space despite it’s micro footprint. (This doesn’t really make sense to me – as far as I can see, the odd shape has more to do with aesthetic than anything else, but if a floor plan was available perhaps it would clear things up.)

It’s not the first time we’ve featured a small garden studio. Megan Lea from Oregon built her own sustainable studio and incorporated many of the same ideas that Sarah has used.

Aside from reclaimed and salvaged materials, Sarah employed no VOC paints, stains and finishes, as well as denim insulation and a formaldehyde-free fiberglass. The large south-facing window receives a degree of shading from a nearby Buckeye tree, helping to keep the space cool in the summer.

Via Inhabitat