Eco-shed

The Eco-shed at Loris

Almost half of the UK carbon emissions can be associated with the construction and operation of our buildings. Buildings can impact on the environment is other ways too, including: landfilling of the waste used in their construction; landfilling the building when it is demolished and the effect on the land on which is it built. Eco-sheds are light buildings designed to have a little impact on the environment as possible.

In 2004 the association decided to enhance the facilities at Loris garden and undertake the construction of a simple eco-shed, comprising a kitchen/office, toilet and storage.

The brief was for the building to be as sustainable as possible features include:

A sedum roof
Sustainably sourced timber
Recycled fixtures including sinks and windows
Newspaper insulation
(We did consider a compost toilet but it wasn't possible)

The building was designed by Studio E Architects and constructed by Ecolibrium Solutions. It was funded by a grant from the Western Riverside Environment Fund and a grant from the SEED programme of the Lottery.

We are delighted with the results and our volunteers now have somewhere to make a cuppa and go to the loo which wasn't possible before. The eco-shed is also the base for our community gardener.

The Eco-shed at Godolphin

In May 2009 we are starting construction on a 2nd Eco shed at Godolphin Garden. This shed has again been designed by Jason Wren who has since left Studio E to set up the sustainable practice Shape Architecture. Ecolibrium Solutions also rejoin the team and new to the partnership are Carbon Hub. Carbon Hub provide web-based carbon reductions tools and will be monitoring the carbon footprint of the build. Funding for the project has been raised from Western Riverside Environment Fund, the local authority and reserves. We have also raised some additional funding from the lottery Community Spaces programme that will be used to make other improvements to the site.

Eco-shed Partners