This garden studio in Greenwich was designed and built by JHA as a self-build project — an exercise in making as much as in architecture. The brief was simple: a quiet, well-made room at the end of a garden that a growing family could use for work, music or retreat.

The structure is built in Douglas Fir, with a mono-pitch roof clad in EPDM and a facade of untreated vertical boards that will silver gradually over time. Inside, the walls are finished in exposed lime plaster and the floor in polished micro-cement — materials chosen for their sensory quality as much as their durability. A plywood dado protects the lower section of the walls from everyday use.

A simple pergola extends from the studio entrance, creating a sheltered transition between inside and outside and providing a climbing frame for the existing wisteria. The building sits within its garden rather than dominating it — modest in footprint, considered in detail.

The project was completed in 2022 and is in daily use. It sits within permitted development limits and required no planning application — a useful demonstration of what is achievable without full planning consent.