A new generation of carefully considered garden buildings is offering places to work, play, cook, bathe and sleep. This year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show offered a deep seam of inspiration for anyone planning to make the most of their garden with an outdoor structure. A notable attraction was Tom Stuart-Smith ’s beautifully crafted shed, at the end of a winding path, shaded by hazel trees and surrounded by woodland planting.
Designed in collaboration with his architect son, Ben Stuart-Smith, and bespoke furniture-maker and woodworker Fenton Scott-Fielder , the ‘ über -hut’ included a small AGA cooker at its heart. The structure is clad in cleft oak from Dorset with a meticulously made planed-beech interior. ‘I wanted it to have an earthy, crafted quality; to be simply, but beautifully made with a mix of clean lines and soft edges,’ explains Mr Stuart-Smith Snr.
Over the years, Mr Scott-Fielder has been called upon to create a wide variety of garden structures, from simple timber-frame sunshades, sheds and cabins to saunas, outdoor kitchens, mystical ‘temples’ and even a sculptural façade to a woodland grotto made from vast tree trunks. ‘But they all share the same purpose — to increase enjoyment outside,’ he says. ‘If you are lucky enough to have a garden, why not make more use of it? I love spending time outside and others do too.
’ Although he favours creating structures, made from sustainable native hardwoods, that sit comfortably in their surroun.
