The recent heatwave has made us very grateful that our own garden office is so well insulated and full of features to keep it cool. We have been able to work comfortably inside Garden Office HQ while the temperature rose outside.
It’s all down to good design
The fact that our garden office and hundreds of others around the country have been a comfortable place to work over the last couple of weeks is all down to the design.
When designing a garden office a designer will give specific thought to how the room will work in the hottest months of the year. Be designing-in certain elements the building will cool itself as the temperature outside soars.
Let’s look at these key design elements that will keep a garden office cool in summer. You can then talk to your garden room designer about incorporating some of them into your own office.
Insulation
There is a lot of focus on the importance of insulation to keep a garden office warm in winter. But high levels of insulation in the floor, walls and roof of a garden office are equally important in the summer. In summer the insulation works to keep the interior of a building cool as the temperature outside rises.
The garden offices we feature on this site are all highly insulated as standard, so will be a comfortable place to work on the hottest days of the year.
Insulation within the structure of the building should be coupled with double glazing in the doors and windows. Talk to your supplier about any extra coatings they offer on their glazing to reflect heat out of the building.
Natural Shading
There are several ways that you can design in some natural shading that will break-up the sun’s rays entering the building.
Deep eaves detail is a simple option, this will break the sun’s path into the office when it is at its highest point in the summer months. The good thing about this feature is that the eaves won’t effect light and warmth from the sun entering the room during the winter months when you will welcome it.
Some garden office designers offer louvred screens which can be positioned to cast shade into the room. These panels can either be fixed in place, dependent on the orientation of the building, or on a track that allows you to slide them to where you need them.
Opening Windows
Floor to ceiling glazing is very fashionable in garden office design. The thing is these panels tend to be fixed, leaving you with only the doors to open when trying to cool the room.
It is worth considering mixing floor to ceiling glazing with some opening windows. The flexibility of opening a window is important when working in a garden office.
Blinds
Many garden office’s come fitted with blinds at the windows. If this is not offered as standard it will almost certainly be offered as an optional upgrade. Blinds are a very simple way of cooling a room, so are well worth considering.
Air Conditioning
All of the design elements mentioned above are enough to keep Garden Office HQ cool on the hottest days of the year. There is, however, the option of incorporating air conditioning into your design.
Many garden office designers offer air conditioning as a heating / cooling option on their buildings.
Installing air conditioning is an expensive option, but the control it offers you to maintain a consistent temperature all year round is very useful.
Next step
Talk to your garden office supplier about the elements they design-in to ensure you will be comfortable to work in your office all year round.