Shed of the year 2024, Sponsored by 
So this shed is a scaled down replica of a 1600 granary store in terms of structure and inspired by old Suffolk fishing sheds in appearance I call it the contemplation shed as it is a place to sit and marvel at the wood and reminisce about the hours and hours it took to make In terms of function apart from enjoying the space it is also my repair shed It looks big but it is actually only 8ft square The traditional roof makes it taller than most sheds and gives an amazing feeling to the space It has two windows front and back to let in as much light as possible as well as a glass panelled door The floor is suspended and the building is only connected to the ground at the corners sitting on chunks of old sleepers Its dead weight keeps it very firmly rootedp P P
Prior to lockdown I went on an oak framing course, and I decided during lockdown to put my new skills to the test. The Oak frame was all built in my lean too garage, the hard way. In terms of structure the beams and cills are all old untreated sleepers, and the posts are green oak sleepers. They have all been cut down to size by me using a skill saw. Fortunately there were no nail surprises.. The oak floor, windows and door are all scavenged and recycled from various skips and gardens. The joinery is all mortise and tenon and the whole structure is held together by about thirty oak pegs. When the pegs are knocked in, the joints are drawn together making it very tight and rigid. It was pretty solid without the pegs. The actual frame can be put up and dismantled in a couple of hours. I know as during the project I trial assembled it three times to check the various timber connections. The cladding is simple gravel boards fixed vertically, with battens fixed over the joints to make it weather proof, and then painted black to look like the fishing shacks of old. If looked after, this structure is good for a couple of hundred years. It actually took me about a year to complete. Each primary timber, there are twelve of them, weigh about 40 kgs, so moving the wood around all the time was challenging. I built a simple trolley to enable me to shuffle the beams around.
