Space age

When is a garden shed not a garden shed? When it's a purpose-built home office in a corner of your garden. Or when it's a children's playroom, or a "den" for teenage children, or a fitness studio, workshop, crΦche or a guest bedroom - tucked neatly away at the back of the house. Want to increase your living space - because you work from home, want to set up your own business, or your family is outgrowing the house - but you don't want to move house, or rent an office and can't face the disruption of having an extension built?

There is a solution and it's called a Shomera (seomra - get it?), a timber "house". "The Shomera came out of a need I had," says Frank O'Sullivan, managing director of Creative Housing Solutions, the company which he set up 18 months ago. "I was doing consultancy work at home, and needed more space. I have a building background, so I built one with my brother. It was a bit rough and ready but it has developed a lot since then."

With the growth in tele-working - and worsening traffic - O'Sullivan expects Shomeras to become a common way of improving the quality of life at home, while also adding to the value of your property.

Colm Corcoran was running his Web design business from a spare room in his Shankill home, but, with a new baby on the way, decided he needed more space. After considering a Portakabin and a mobile home, he eventually opted for a Shomera extra room in his garden.

Designed for the Irish climate, the Shomera is well-insulated (including the floor), weather-proofed, draught-sealed and double-glazed. Inside, it is warm and well-finished, with dry-lined, painted walls and pine skirting - very like the interior of a new home. Not all look the same, though.

Different window styles are available - including a Velux and a long church-style window - and you have a design input, choosing the position of the windows and door. Optional extras include a built-in desk, a pine ceiling finish, an outside light, and additional phone and electric sockets.

"I went looking for space. I was more than surprised to be able to get something that looked really nice," says Corcoran, who is co-owner of renview.com. "It feels like a house or a chalet, not like a shed at all. It's set up as an office, with phone lines, electrics, cable TV and an ISDN line. It's big enough for me, my partner and four more work stations."

Although Corcoran chose a large Shomera (20 x 12 ft), he didn't need planning permission and the building was constructed with little disruption, over four days. "It's an instant building. The crew arrived and laid the foundations on the first day. Two days later, it was delivered - it comes ready-made on a flat-bed truck. They crane it in, in six sections, and then put it together."

Barbara Patton saves two hours commuting time by running her new marketing consultancy business from a Shomera, which takes up one-third of her small garden in Clonskeagh - and so gets to spend more time with her young son. "I go out to the office at 9 a.m. because a childminder comes in and I need to be out of the house. But I don't feel banished - it's a place I'd happily chose to be."

Dr Charles Mollan, who edits and publishes the Irish Scientist Yearbook from his home in Blackrock, needed more office and storage space, and has found the Shomera an ideal solution. "The house and garage were overwhelmed - I was running out of space. I couldn't store books in a garden shed, it's too damp, but the Shomera is better insulated than the house."

Those intending to install would be advised to talk to their neighbours. "I cleared it with my neighbours first," says Mollan, "but they can't even see it."

Professional artist John Nolan spent five years painting in his converted attic before opting for a Shomera. "Studio rental prices in the city are high. I needed more space, and wanted to work at home, but separate from the house. To have anything built would have taken eight or nine months, plus waiting for planning permission. The Shomera was erected within four days and provides the open-plan space that I need."

Shomeras start at £6,250 for 9 x 10 ft, going up to £10,750 for 12 x 20 foot. Creative Housing Solutions, Unit 13B, Dunshaughlin Industrial Estate, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath.

Tel: 01-8258288.