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Nov 07, 2023

This Modern Backyard Office Comes With a Climbing Wall

A unique home office mixes work and leisure. William Tozer Associates We've long

A unique home office mixes work and leisure.

William Tozer Associates

We've long been proponents of working from home. After all, not only does working from home often allow for a better work-life balance, it also means less carbon emissions and more money saved. And now, after the many lessons we've learned from living with a global pandemic, working from home makes more sense than ever—especially when there is evidence showing that it doesn't hurt productivity.

But setting up a home office can be a difficult affair—some might be able to only carve out some extra space on the kitchen table, while others might have the luxury of converting a guest bedroom or part of a basement for the task. Those who are really lucky might have enough space in the backyard for a dedicated home office—as one resident of London, England, did in commissioning local architecture studio William Tozer Associates to create a modern home office that also incorporated a climbing wall.

Dubbed Split Space, the angular, wood-clad series of pavilions sits at the very end of a triangular-shaped backyard.

William Tozer Associates

The home office itself can be fully opened up to connect to the surrounding garden, thanks to a set of sliding glass patio doors that run the full height of the backyard workspace. The overhanging eave here provides a bit of shade from the sun, while the light-colored paved patio space invites one to possibly pull out a chair to enjoy the sun during a work break.

Past the patio doors, we can see much of the main space here, which consists of a sitting area equipped with some armchairs and an upholstered bench. A long built-in desk is tucked into a nook that runs along one wall, with space for filing cabinets and a printer. There is a floating shelf overhead, which keeps the desk clear, but items within view and within easy reaching distance.

There is also a compact kitchenette along the far wall, dressed up in minimalist white cabinetry above and below. Throughout, we also see plenty of recessed LED strip lights, which help to provide ample lighting without cluttering the space unnecessarily.

William Tozer Associates

The actual entry door is slotted into one side of the unit, its orientation being influenced by the odd geometry of the site. One can catch a glimpse of the climbing wall from here, peeking out beyond the threshold.

William Tozer Associates

The architects say that the spaces are not designed to be monolithic but three-dimensionally complex to promote "social interaction," as inspired by the early Modernist Viennese architect Adolf Loos' raumplan approach to spatial design:

"The building volume steps in and out to accommodate the roots of existing trees, and the resulting splits are glazed to provide framed views into and through the building, and from the building to the exterior. [..] The building is a composition of rectilinear planes and volumes, and the glazing is articulated as gaps between these separate elements rather than as openings in a single building envelope."

William Tozer Associates

Upon entering, we see the home office area off to the right.

William Tozer Associates

Right in the middle—in between the work zone and the climbing wall to the rear—we have a bathroom outfitted with a shower and a toilet. Sunlight pours in from the skylight overhead.

William Tozer Associates

At the very rear is a room that sits slightly lower than the front part of this backyard structure. Here we find a mini-climbing wall, which is attached to some kind of hinge at the ground, thus allowing it to be moved to different angles for varying levels of climbing difficulty. The architects say that:

"With a significantly lower floor level than the adjacent office, the climbing space has a dramatic verticality, which is enhanced by the experience of climbing. [..] The double-height gym space accommodates an adjustable climbing wall, and incorporates extensive roof-glazing to provide views of the sky, recalling the experience of climbing outdoors."

William Tozer Associates

Indeed, working from home can allow one to not only be productive, but to also find moments to balance work with a bit of active leisure. To see more, visit William Tozer Associates.