Inhabitat » FUTURESHED

July 10, 2006

FUTURESHED

by Sarah Rich

We’ve long admired the work of Futureproof/ed, the Belgian design studio of sustainable designer extraordinaire, Serge de Gheldere. While Futureproof/ed has historically made products that go inside your space, now they have designed a whole space to furnish or fill as you see fit — it’s FutureShed!

FutureShed follows the studio’s thorough principles of sustainability (see their Eco-design strategy), utilizing FSC-certified, locally-sourced timber, free of toxic adhesives and sealants; a fully translucent roof for maximum daylight and natural midwinter heat; and self-bearing walls that require no extraneous framing or hardware.

Like some of the other sheds we’ve showcased here, this garden habitat can be used as a children’s playhouse, a storage space, a workshop, or a backyard getaway. But we think this one, designed in collaboration with design engineering student, Mara Callaert, is exceptionally beautiful.

“We have aimed for a striking but serene form so that you won’t want to hide this shed in the back of your yard,” say the designers, “Also, the FutureShed is puzzle-engineered as to virtually eliminate sawing waste during production. Every little piece of cut wood is reused in the FutureShed.”

+ FutureShed
+ Futureproof/ed

Thanks, Serge!

7 Responses to “FUTURESHED”

Michael G. Richard Says:

July 10th, 2006 at 10:36 pm

Very nice design.

Jaggae Says:

July 11th, 2006 at 1:26 am

Great design. Appealing, sustainable, and compact. Love that it is well-partitioned for easy organisation.

victoria Says:

July 13th, 2006 at 1:30 pm

wow. can a shed be gorgeous? i want to live in it.

Inhabitat » Blog Archive » ECOSPACE GREEN GARDEN STUDIO Says:

July 14th, 2006 at 4:30 am

[…] We’ve waxed lyrical about many a mini backyard prefab, (the FutureShed, the Modern Cabana, the MetroShed ) but the EcoSpace Garden Studio really takes the cake. This stylish little prefab is green in almost every way: it is constructed from sustainably harvested cedar, employs eco-friendly materials throughout the structure and interior, and even comes outfitted with a pre-built green roof! Starting at £15,850, its reasonably priced as well - although bathrooms, kitchens and necessary amenities cost extra. […]

dgsmills Says:

July 14th, 2006 at 8:48 pm

This costs $30k? I really like the design, but couldn’t this be done with local materials for half that? Tongue-and-groove wood, 4×4 corner posts, angle-Al reinforcements and a plastic/fibreglass/plexiglass roof, plus some barn hardware for the door… Smells like - high margins…

jeff horten Says:

July 17th, 2006 at 9:07 pm

Yes….It’s a very nice shed…..But $30,000.00 !!!???!!! Better try again.

Serge de Gheldere Says:

July 22nd, 2006 at 11:52 pm

link:
CCA in Canada: http://www.environmentaldefence.ca/reports/Arsenic_In_PlaygroundsFINAL.pdf

–

Hello,

Briefly back from holiday — what a nice surprise to see this covered. Thanks, Sarah.

Thank you also for the great comments, y’all !

- Price in Belgium is 3400 eur, including delivery, but without assembly. This is 4300 USD, at current rate. Not 30.000 usd. Did we include a typo somewhere ?

- The main point is this: most garden wood is preservative treated, and is really not suited for house or garden use.

“In addition, quite often, the wood used in garden equipment is preservative treated wood. CCA (chrome copper arsenide) preservative treated wood, recognizable with its greenish hue, will leach chrome VI (think ‘Erin Brockovitch’), fluor and arsenic — a serious threat to human and environmental health. ”

A 2004 European directive list these woods as toxic substances that should not be handled without gloves, because, there may not be a lower toxicological dose for arsenic. Meaning, that you don’t need to accumulate a certain dose of arsenic in your body before health effects (carcinogen effect // genotoxic damage) start appearing. The link above leads you to a report on CCA in canada. The cynical aspect of it is that a large number of playgrounds have become highly contaminated because of the chrome VI and arsenic leaching from the playtoys.

Take care,

Serge

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