The First Building

In the spring of 2025, Seed Original were asked by our client to create a small sanctuary, beneath a canopy of old apple trees.

What began as a simple request for a potting shed soon became something more considered — a calm and useful space designed to sit naturally within the garden rather than dominate it. The brief was modest: somewhere warm to store tools, prepare seedlings, repot plants and retreat to on slow mornings spent outdoors.

But as with many projects, the smallest buildings often become the most personal.

The site sat at the edge of a long-established garden in Kent, surrounded by uneven grass, weathered timber fencing and a scattering of mature apple trees that had stood there for decades. In spring, blossom drifted across the site while the ground beneath remained cool and damp from the winter months.

We wanted the building to feel as though it had always belonged there.

The structure was designed with simple proportions and restrained detailing — dark vertical timber cladding, a steeply pitched roof and a warm timber-lined interior that caught the changing light throughout the day. Large glazed doors opened directly toward the orchard, allowing the boundary between inside and outside to almost disappear during summer.

Over time, the shed became more than a place for gardening. It became somewhere to sit with coffee early in the morning, somewhere to escape the house for an hour of quiet work, somewhere to watch the seasons slowly change through the trees.

That project became a significant structure in the evolution of the Seed Original Philosophy.

It reminded us that small buildings can have a profound effect on daily life when they are carefully designed, properly built and connected closely to their surroundings.

This diminutive yet beautiful building, tucked beneath the apple trees, has inspired a new vision of what is possible when even the smallest of buildings is designed and built with passion and quality.