Cuprinol Shed Of The Year 2024: Couple build eco-friendly summerhouse out of recycled materials

A couple have designed and built an impressive outhouse on the cheap - by using materials they found in skips and through free-ads. Graham Anderson, 35, and his wife, Rachel, 34 - who are both architects - set about designing and transforming an unused patch of land at the bottom of their garden into a vibrant garden room - to use as a workspace (click to play video above).

Shortlisted for Cuprinol Shed Of The Year 2024

Graham, alongside his father-in-law, also called Graham, they spent a year constructing and building their new hub - which has been shortlisted for the Cuprinol Shed Of The Year 2024. To be as economical as possible, they made an effort to source their materials from free online ads. They found the insulation for the roof in a skip using Gumtree, the front window they got from an unwanted window re-seller, and the timber was reclaimed with help from the Southampton Wood Recycling Project.

Building on a budget

Their frugal decision making meant they were able to build their summer cabin for just £12k in total - £23k less than the £35k Graham estimates the build would have cost them had they got someone to do it for them. Graham said he entered the Cuprinol Shed of the Year 2024 competition for a "bit of fun" but says it's a "nice feeling" to be shortlisted in the 'Cabin/Summerhouse' category.

Eco-friendly materials

Graham, an architectural technologist, from Eastleigh, Hampshire, said: “It was quite arduous - spending a lot of time collecting stuff, keeping an eye out for the right types of insulation, working with unknown quantities and we just managed to make it work without much wastage really. It's a low energy building as there are lots of layers of membranes which are all taped up and super well-insulated so it's relatively warm in the winter.”

You can vote for Graham's build here: https://www.readersheds.co.uk/share.cfm?shareshed=8681