Last year Sanctum Garden Studios designed and built a garden office for their client Nikki to run her beauty therapy business from. This is quite a common use for garden offices as a garden office can provide a professional and private clinic environment at home, without having clients actually in your house. This is a win win situation.
Not the easiest of sites
Nikki wanted to create a light and airy room, but her site is not the easiest of shapes and space was tight. Even so the Sanctum design team were able to slot a 2.4m wide by 4.2m deep office into the space available. The building is 2.5 meters high.
Normally when you are wanting to flood a garden office with light you would place a large expanse of glazing on the longest elevation. The site dictated that this wasn’t an option so Sanctum placed a wide pair of French doors on the 2.4m elevation. Being fully glazed these doors still let in a lot of light and can be flung open on a warm day.
Planning Permission was required for this garden office
In many cases when building a garden building under 2.5 meters high it can be built under the Permitted Development rules. Running a business from a garden office though is slightly different. Depending on the type of business you are running and if you are having clients visiting regularly, you may need to apply for Planning Permission. We wrote an introductory article about Planning Permission and garden offices here.
In Nikki’s case with clients coming and going she did need to apply for Planning Permission to build her beauty studio in the garden. Nikki worked with a local architect to make this application on her behalf. Sanctum Garden Studios provided them with the building plans, elevation drawings and details of the specification. Her application was successful.
The standard specification included everything needed
Nikki chose a building from Sanctum Garden Studios Contemporary Range and was happy with the standard specification level that this range offers. Here is a list of some of the key features of the specification:
- Directional lighting and light switch
- American Walnut laminate flooring with white skirting boards
- White Melamine finish with joint strips
- Guttering and downpipe to the rear of the building
- EPDM rubber covered cubed roof
- Western Red Cedar cladding on all elevations
The list price for a 2.4m x 4.2m building from the Contemporary Range is £12,900. This roughly works out at £1,280 per square meter which is very competitive. As we mentioned earlier Nikki went for a set of French doors which were £500.
The only optional extra chosen was exterior lighting which cost £80 each.
Once the Sanctum team left site, Nikki had a local electrician connect the offices electrics to the mains supply in her house. This is common on garden office projects unless you go for a turnkey package where this will be organised and undertaken by your garden office supplier.
Fully built in two days
Sanctum Garden Studios have developed a quick installation system. With this project the team were on site by 8am on day one and the building was fully finished by close of business on day two. With what other industry could you have a new room built in just two days?!
A year on
Nikki has now been using her garden office for a year. This image shows the building now established in her garden. She says this about the office:
I’ve been working in my gorgeous studio for almost a year! Business is great and all my clients comment on how beautiful the studio is….I’ve given out your number numerous times!”
To learn more about Sanctum Garden Studios visit their website or give them a call on 01204 460 450