Helping Hands
In case you weren’t already aware, housing affordability has become a global issue, and one of the worst places to buy or rent is London. Thankfully, when times are tough there always seem to be people willing to help out – enter Lowe Guardians.
Company founder Tim Lowe created Lowe Guardians to provide affordable accommodation for London’s transient young professionals and creatives by making the most out of vacant buildings. Recently they’ve teamed up with Studio Bark for a new initiative dubbed the SHED Project.
The core premise of the venture is to insert affordable micro-homes inside vacant buildings across the city. Each SHED takes one day to construct, and the intention is for each guardian to build it themselves, taking ownership of their living quarters and creating the potential to develop a new community of SHED builders.
“Derelict warehouses remain a huge, untapped potential for us that could benefit guardians and property owners alike. However, the reality is that turning vast, open spaces into private rooms for guardians has always been both tricky and time consuming,” explains Lowe.
“On every site we create a considerable amount of waste – both financially and environmentally. We were looking for a solution that allowed us to be much more creative with the space, and take everything with us when we went onto the next site.”
The SHED is constructed from affordable, low-impact materials in the form of Smartply (formaldehyde-free OSB), lamb’s wool insulation, and recycled polycarbonate, all made in the UK. The OSB is CNC’d (Computer Numeric Cutting) for brevity, accuracy and to minimise wastage. The individual panels are formed to create “U-Build” modules, a system designed by Studio Bark. These are then easily bolted together on a regular grid to form the insulated and soundproof SHED.
“Before meeting Tim, we had been developing our modular ‘U-Build’ system for some time, yet specifically for the self-build housing market. The SHED project presented us with the opportunity to explore new options of temporary housing and shelter,” says Studio Bark Director, Wilf Meynell.
“We were hugely excited by Lowe Guardian’s environmental ethos and were keen to develop a pod that could be easily reused and reappropriated, helping to minimise building waste to landfill. The SHED project provides the opportunity to put a stop to substandard and wasteful temporary development in London and across the UK.”
More green updates
