As well as building contemporary garden rooms Pod Space also build inspiring learning spaces. The Pod Space team have created an interesting infographic looking at creative environments and the best kind of environment to learn.
Pod Space
This archive of articles looks at the work of Pod Space, although it has been a while since we wrote about one of their projects. Pod Space garden rooms stand out in the market because of their strong contemporary style. They offer some stylish small buildings ideal as a home office right through to self-contained garden annexes.
Award Winning Pod Space
Pod Space are celebrating their win at The Northern Designs Awards in the category of Best Innovative Design. Judges included Sir Terence Conran, Wayne Hemingway and Diarmuid Gavin.
Pod Space Showcase A Complete Office Solution At Grand Designs Live
Pod Space have come up with a complete garden office solution – garden office and custom furniture
New Eco Pod from Pod Space
The Ecopod is Pod Spaces largest standard sized pod, measuring 7.2 x 3.5m, and makes an ideal home office in which you can comfortably fit up to four adults. Not only will you save money on commercial rent, but you’ll also be reducing your carbon footprint.
See Pod Space at Grand Designs Live
It’s a couple of months away but we are delighted to hear that Pod Space will be exhibiting their Micro Pod Max at Grand Designs Live at the NEC in Birmingham between the 7th and 9th October 2011.
We recently profiled the Micro Pod Max on The Garden Room Guide and Grand Designs Live will offer interested parties the chance to experience the quality of this garden room up close. You will find Pod Space at G544 (opposite the VIP area) in the Grand Show Gardens section.
If you want discounted tickets for the show visit the Pod Space website for details.
Next week we will be showcasing another of Pod Spaces new ranges, the Eco Pod.
Pod Space Micropod
The Micropod and its bigger sibling the Micropod Max are the ideal set up for the home worker, they maybe smaller in stature than the other garden rooms in the Pod Space range but their specification packs no less of a punch, let’s have a look.
Latest Pod Space Designs
Pod Space have always been popular with The Garden Room Guide readers who like the crisp contemporary lines of these garden rooms coupled with the emphasis on thermal performance without compromising on light and space, but we haven’t featured them much recently, this is because Pod Space have been busy honing their designs and increasing the range of garden rooms they offer. We think it has been worth the wait!
Pod Space now have 5 standard units – the micro pod, micro pod max, mini pod, glide pod and eco pod. The extension to the range to include the smaller micro pod and micro pod max has enabled Pod Space to bring quality garden rooms to clients with a smaller budget or individual home workers who require a small work space away from the main house.
Pod Space explain the redesign:
[quote]The aim of our re-design is to maintain the high quality of our garden rooms. We are constantly researching new products to ensure we are always delivering the highest standards of thermally efficient Pods for year round use but without compromising on delivery of light and space. This has included a change to our SIPS panel structure which is now even more efficient than before so that our Pods are even more thermally efficient than previously and naturally even more efficient than you’d expect in a new house. We’ve also invested in the external design with some new features that keep our Pods looking contemporary as well as improving their overall security and performance.”[/quote][flagallery gid=38 name=”Gallery”]
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Pod Space also have a completely new website which has the contemporary and designer feel that is echoed throughout Pod Space designs.
For more information about these exciting garden rooms visit the Pod Space website
Cedar Cladding
Western Red Cedar cladding is a popular finish on many garden offices, particularly contemporary garden offices where cedars clear grain and subtle colouring enhance the contemporary feel.
Although Western Red Cedar can be sourced from forests in the UK, the bulk of Western Red Cedar used in garden office construction is grown along the pacific coast from Northern California to Southwest Alaska; British Columbia alone has an estimated 750 million cubic meters of Western Red Cedar trees. A Western Red Cedar tree can grow up to 60m high and can have a diameter of 2.4m.
The amount of Western Red Cedar that is cut each year is strictly regulated, in British Columbia the chief forester determines how much is cut each year, but typically less than 1% of British Columbia’s Western Red Cedar is cut each year. When trees are cut it’s in such a way that groups of trees are left untouched and areas are reforested with seedlings.
Western Red Cedar is an excellent choice for garden office cladding as it is a dimensionally stable wood, which means it swells and shrinks minimally in response to humidity, so gaps won’t appear in the cladding. Western Red Cedar is also a good cladding because it has natural resistance to moisture absorption.
Western Red Cedar used for garden office cladding is often moulded into a tongue & groove profile which is particularly appropriate for contemporary designs as it is a flat profile with a simple ‘v’ groove between the boards. Western Red Cedar T&G cladding can be fixed both vertically and horizontally. Western Red Cedar interacts with ferrous materials so it is important that it is fixed with stainless steel or hot dipped galvanised fixings.
Western Red Cedars heartwood is a naturally durable material and can be left untreated; its rich brown and red colours will weather to a silver grey, if this is not desired Western Red Cedar cladding can be treated with an Alkyd based resin.
Western Red Cedar has a life expectancy in excess of 60 years and it is categorised as one of the most durable softwoods.
Western Red Cedar is a very light weight material which makes it quick to install so, for speed of installation, durability and its aesthetic properties Western Red Cedar is the perfect cladding for a garden office.
Pod Space and Vivid Green offer Western Red Cedar as standard cladding on their garden offices.
Pod Space
[caption id="attachment_389" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Exterior of garden room by Pod Space"]
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[/caption]Pod Space are architecturally designed garden rooms with a strong emphasis on energy efficiency and conservation of natural resources.
These contemporary modular garden rooms have the attention to detail that only an architect can provide. These striking buildings are available in three designs, the Eco Pod, Glide Pod and the Mini Pod.
Energy efficiency is at the forefront when choosing materials, and they are combined to create garden rooms which outperform current building regulation standards, so offer comfortable use all year round.
The Pod Space garden rooms are very sturdy with 240mm thick walls, which are made up of various layers including the important vapour and breather membranes which keep the building watertight and insulation which eliminates thermal bridging.
[caption id="attachment_390" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Inside a Pod Space garden room"]
[/caption]The materials used externally create clean crisp lines, high performance floor to ceiling doors and windows create a flow of inside / outside space and lead out onto a covered deck area with unique louvered sunshade / privacy screen. All external woodwork is finished in Western Red Cedar which is fixed vertically to emphasis the contemporary look and will last maintenance free for 40 years, whilst the doors, windows and fascia are finished in a contrasting dark grey powder coated cladding.
Internally the floor has a natural rubber covering which is available in 80 different colours whilst the walls and ceiling are finished with a premium white beech veneer which continues the contemporary feel, if you are more traditionally minded a plastered finish is also available. All electrical and door fittings are finished in brushed steel and the heating is in the form of slimline, programmable wall heaters.
If the Pod Space garden rooms aren’t already well specified there are a host of upgrade options available such as pitched roof, kitchen and w.c. areas, under floor heating system and a sedum living roof covering which provides the garden room with additional thermal and acoustic insulation, and helps to control CO2 emissions.
Pod Space garden rooms are built in factory conditions to ensure high, quality control, and this minimises onsite construction time which can be as little as two days.
Prices for Pod Space garden rooms start at £16,450 plus VAT and delivery for a 4.6 x 3.8m Mini Pod, lead time is approximately 12 weeks and all buildings come with a 5 year guarantee.
For more information visit the Pod Space website.
For more photos visit our Flickr site