Shoffice / Platform 5 Architects

Architects: Platform 5 Architects
Location: St. John’s Wood, Saint John’s Wood, City of Westminster, London NW8, UK
Structural Engineer: Morph Structures
Contractor: Millimetre
Year: 2012
Photographs: Alan Williams Photography

‘Shoffice’ (shed + office) is a garden pavilion containing a small office alongside garden storage space located to the rear of a1950′s terraced house in St John’s Wood. The brief required the shoffice to be conceived of as a sculptural object that flowed into the garden space.

A glazed office space nestles into an extruded timber elliptical shell, which curls over itself like a wood shaving, and forms a small terrace in the lawn. The interior is oak lined and fitted out with storage and a cantilevered desk. Two rooflights – one glazed above the desk with another open to the sky outside the office bring light into the work space.

The project was a close collaboration between Architect, Structural Engineer and Contractor. The lightweight structure, formed with two steel ring beams, timber ribs and a stressed plywood skin, sits on minimal pad foundations. Much of the project was prefabricated to reduce the amount of material that needed to be moved through the house during construction.