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This shed has been designed to fit into the corner of a small garden of our town house in Tokyo. My goal was to make it as functional as possible, whilst ensuring it blended in with its surroundings and wasn't obtrusive to our very close neighbors. I designed the frame using Google SketchUp which, after a bit of familiarisation, was extremely useful. We are located close to a large river so to protect the shed from a high watertable, it is built upon 2 layers of bricks which are laid on a concrete base. Most importantly for Japan, it has various building constructs to protect it from the effects of earthquakes. It is insulated, has LED lighting and is connected to the internet so I can listen to Radio 4 whilst doing "odd jobs"! The work bench is a single 2 inch thick hardwood board and is designed to provide me with as much usable work surface as possible, whilst making room for tools, an odds and sods box and the lawnmower.
Some interesting building features include: a 5mm rubber layer between the anchored wooden frame and the brick course which provides both protection against water and also allows the frame to slide during an earthquake; all joints in the frame utilize metal brackets which are strong but also flexible, also allowing the frame some flexibility during an earthquake; the interior side boarding has a clear varnish seal, with glass wool for insulation which is sandwiched inside a plywood skin; the flooring is raised above the height of the bricks and is completely detached from the main shed frame again to provide flexibility during an earthquake. The hardest part of the build process was attaching the wood paneling to the rear and right side of the shed, since there is only about a 15 cm gap between the frame and a surrounding fence. With so little space, it was necessary to move the entire frame of the shed off its anchor bolts and slide it away from the fence so that I had room to attach the side paneling. Then the shed had to be slid back into position, over the rubber layer, directly over the pre- drilled bolt holes (for which I needed the assistance of my son and a car jack!).
