A Touch Of Magic

Chiddingfold resident Ben Swanborough has been hailed the winner of this year’s Shed of the Year competition, televised on Channel 4’s Amazing Spaces. We discover the inspirations behind his fanciful Mushroom Shed that is full of quirky touches

- Leigh Clapp

 WITH a record-breaking 2,963 entries, 26,571 public votes and a tense and lengthy deliberation from the judging panel, there was stiff competition in this year’s Shed of the Year contest but Ben Swanborough’s unique tree house beat off the rivals to take first prize in a nail biting finale. Millions of people across the nation tuned in to watch presenter George Clarke announce the winner during the final episode of Channel 4’s Amazing Spaces Shed of the Year.

After winning the cabin and summerhouse category in episode one, the Mushroom Shed went had-to-head with the seven other category winners as decided by the public: Underground Bunker Shed, Pricklebums Hedgehog Rescue, Engine House, Team Unlimbited, Letsby Avenue Police Station, Wee Tower and Doog’s Shack.

“The bar was set really high this year, from entire train carriages to a miniature chapel and replica cinema. The quirky design details Ben created really stood out above the rest and he thoroughly deserves the title of overall winner,” says competition founder Andrew Wilcox.

“Ben has proved that you just need a little motivation and vision to create a truly stunning space at the bottom of your garden. His shed was definitely a worthy overall winner for the competition’s landmark year,” adds competition sponsor Curpinol’s creative director, Marianne Shillingford.

I visited Ben at his home in Chiddingfold to discover where the motivation had come from. Close to home in fact, from his now 13-year old daughter Elsie, who has a real interest in architecture, coupled with a love of fantasy. “I purely built it because Elsie asked me to. She had been asking me to build a mushroom house as a magical hang-out space since she was younger and she presented me with £500 she had saved to spend on it,” Ben explains.