With more people working from home and property prises rising around the world, homeowners lucky enough to have outdoor space are replacing the traditional shed with studios, guest rooms and flexible work spaces. Here are 12 of the best examples from Dezeen's archives (+ slideshow).

Writer's Shed by Weston Surman & Deane

Tucked away at the bottom of a garden in London – where space for new buildings is increasingly difficult to come by and expensive – this studio covered in cedar shingles and slats was designed as a writing retreat for an author.

A double layered facade at the front creates shelter for a verandah, while a large area of glazing means that the front of building glows when lit at night. Find out more about this project »

Bussum Garden Studio by Serge Schoemaker Architects

This angular garden studio was designed by Serge Schoemaker as a multi-purpose home office, storage unit and guest bedroom for a family house in the Dutch town of Bussum.

A "jigsaw puzzle" of plywood pieces was used to create the inside of the structure, while the outside is clad in approximately 2,000 hand-sanded and painted red-cedar shingles – a reference to the craftsmanship of the surrounding 1930s houses. Find out more about this project »

Suburban Studio by Ashton Porter Architects

This single-storey studio was built at the bottom of the garden belonging to a semi-detached London house, with a glazed strip that runs around the bottom of the facade to make the building look like it is raised above the ground.

Hatches on the timber-slatted front wall open to reveal the windows, and the designers included more hatches in the garden's timber decking to hide a sandpit, paddling pool and fire pit. Find out more about this project »

Artists Studio by Arquitecturia

Built around an ash tree in the garden of a family home in Girona, north-east Spain, this timber-clad studio is shaped like a cross.

Designed by Josep Camps and Olga Felip of Arquitecturia, the unusual arrangement was created to accommodate the size of the canvases preferred by the painter as well as incorporate a double-height central space and huge windows. Find out more about this project »

Light Shed by FT Architects

Light Shed is a small photographer's studio at the bottom of a garden in Kanagawa, in the southern Kantō region of Japan.

The timber frame of the single-room building is visible through its corrugated plastic cladding, and the multi-faceted gable roof was designed to create the biggest space possible on a small budget. Find out more about this project »

The Hackney Shed by Office Sian

Tucked behind a house in Hackney, east London, this low-budget garden office space was designed for just one person and is hidden behind a pair of oak-framed doors that fold away from the facade.

Bookshelves are sandwiched between the structural columns, while the spaces between the roof beams are filled with glass to create a skylight. Find out more about this project »

A Studio for Drawing, Painting and Small Sculpture by Christian Tonko

Dug into a hillside overlooking the town of Bregenz in Austria, this weathered steel artist's studio projects out at the bottom to frame the view.

Architect Christina Tonko designed the studio based on the camera lucida – an optical device used as a drawing aid – with glazed walls at either end to turn the concrete interior into a "bright chamber" of light. Find out more about this project »

Garden Workshop by Rodić Davidson Architects

This black wooden box in a garden in Cambridge, England, was designed by Ben Davidson of London studio Rodić Davidson Architects around the proportions of his grandfather's old workbench and leftover panels of glazing.

Inside, pegboards line the walls to create hanging space for displaying a collection of handmade tools. The workshop is one of two structures the architect has designed and built for his garden – the other serves as a home office. Find out more about this project »

Little White Box at Turégano House by Alberto Campo Baeza

Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza added this minimal white designer's studio to the garden of a house in Madrid that he'd created 25 years earlier – also a simple white cube.

The addition even has a stone floor to match the original building, while window walls at either end create views straight through the space and allow the sides to remain pristinely uniform. Find out more about this project »

The Sunday Stuga by Liddicoat Goldhill

Another cabin in a Hackney garden, the Sunday Stuga is surrounded by brick walls on three sides so features a zigzagging roof line to fit in a big window at the front.

The wood-floored studio is used mainly as a work and entertainment space, but also incorporates a shower room and storage space. Find out more about this project »

Artist Car Park Studio by Edwards Moore

Lack of access to a garden doesn't have to be a limitation, as architect Edwards Moore demonstrated by building this artist's studio in a car park of an apartment block in Melbourne, Australia.

Clad in translucent fibreglass, the building provides light for the car park at night, and includes work space, storage, a shower room, a toilet and kitchen facilities. Find out more about this project »

Garden Studios by Soup Architects

This pair of studios with matching corrugated cladding and slanted roofs was created in the garden of a home in Suffolk, England, and sit between a row of tress and a pond.

The studios provide work spaces for an artist couple who divide their time between London and the scenic coastal town of Aldeburgh, and frame a small connecting deck in between them. Find out more about this project »

Construction Trailer by Karel Verstraeten

A garden retreat isn't only useful in the city. Belgian architect Karel Verstraeten converted this abandoned construction-site trailer to create a hideaway at the end of a family garden in Ghent.

Towed to the site by a local farmer, the inside was stripped out and replaced with a timber-lined room that incorporates an adjustable bench at one end, which can be moved up and down to serve as a desk, seat or day bed. Find out more about this project »