Press Release: MetroShed 6-1-2006

DATE: 6/1/2006

FORGET THE PENTHOUSE SUITE HAVE YOU SEEN THE LATEST GARDEN RETREAT?

From the team behind Ground Force and Changing Rooms comes the most luxurious outside room you've ever seen. So uber cool you can ditch the house and set up in the back garden.

Once the home of the English eccentric trying to escape the Mrs, the 21st century shed has undergone an amazing transformation and is now more likely to house a high-tech office or yoga retreat than old garden clutter.

Add to this soaring house prices, and space at a premium, and you can easily see why people are increasingly using garden buildings as affordable alternatives to loft extensions or basement conversions - with the added bonus of no planning permission. The right garden studio can add as much as 5% onto the value of a property. And it's prefect for the increasing the number of home workers in the UK.

Furthermore, modern houses are getting smaller and the current trend is to re-compartmentalise space and employ designers in our homes and gardens. All this has turned the garden developments into a burgeoning industry where city and country inhabitants alike are opting for the ultimate hi-tech retreat.

Already a market leader in the US, MetroShed has now arrived in the UK and it's easy to see why the garden shed has long waved goodbye to their Coronation Street ancestry. MetroShed is a designer chic, up-to-the-minute and incredibly stylish alternative to the conventional shed or outbuilding - it's the Sienna Miller of the garden world! And better still, it comes at an affordable price, representing considerable value for money. "Modern architecture made affordable".

Tastes and living requirements have evolved and the MetroShed is a reflection of that. As the must-have accessory for the modern home, it has a cedar wood beam frame, stunning aluminium sliding glass doors and tongue-in-groove wood floor panels.

So awe-inspiring once erected it's hard to believe the MetroShed arrives flat packed for simple self assembly allowing you to add space to your home in just one day - and in most cases no planning permission is needed. Other key features include Insulated wall panels, ventilation shutters, UV protected polycarbonate roofing, termite-resistant wood floor joists and corrosion-resistant hardware.

One in five "Shedites" now use their sheds for non-traditional purposes*, from wine-tasting to novel writing to solariums. With the working from home population growing by the minute MetroShed uses are wide ranging to fit the needs of the individual and offer a light contemporary environment to work in. Uses include a garden office, pool house, guest suite, yoga studio, architects studio, play room, exercise room, bar room, dog house, graphics or art studio.

Giving its owners an architectural and exclusive design at affordable prices the MetroShed allows your garden building to blend in with its surroundings or be turned into a focal point. This means you can choose a studio that isn't just a miniature copy of your home but one that complements the details of your house and personality.

Plus it seems it's not just another room - this creative space can impact on our ability to achieve. The roll call of shed-dwelling high-achievers is impressive: Dylan Thomas, Roald Dahl, and Rudyard Kipling did some of their finest work in their sheds, Trevor Bayliss invented the wind-up radio in his and composer Benjamin Britten owed such a debt to his garden retreat that it's been classified as a Grade II listed building.

So invest in a MetroShed today to reward yourself with some garden designer chic - the new "must have" for homeowners.

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Further Resources
To set up an interview with designer David Ballinger or managing director Craig Holt, or press photography or more information contact: Claire Doherty at Grapevine PR on 07932 651837, or email claire@thisisgrapevine.com.

Log on to www.metroshed.com for more information and full photo gallery.

Notes To Editors
MetroShed starts at £6,995 for the base model (optional upgrade packages available & price excludes delivery and installation) and is 13 ft by 8ft wide. Products can be joined together if customers need a bigger unit.

Background
MetroShed is owned by UK-based design and marketing consulting company, GDM Ltd. GDM was created in 1995 by David Ballinger, the UK's ex-brand / marketing director for reality TV pioneer, Endemol Entertainment (creators of Changing Rooms, Trading Spaces, Extreme Home Makeover, Big Brother, Ground Force and Fear Factor). GDM opened U.S. operations in Pennsylvania in 1999 and in New Jersey in 2000 to service clients such as Western Union, BMW, PepsiCo, as well as Daimler-Chrysler, Nestle, Mini, Rolls Royce, Kia Motors and Chevrolet and now operates in both America and in the UK, with regional facilities in Florida, California and London.

References
*Findaproperty.com 2005-2006.