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Insulated garden office

One of the key things that makes a garden office building stand apart from other garden buildings such as a shed, summer house or log cabin is the fact that it is a highly insulated structure. An insulated garden office is specifically designed so that it can be comfortably used every day of the year, if that is what its owner wants. While in our opinion, a heater is needed to boost the temperature during the coldest days of the year, many suppliers say their offices are so well insulated that a heater is not required.

Good insulation predominately comes to mind when thinking about how warm a garden office will be, but a well-insulated garden office also comes into its own during the hot weather. While in the winter you want the insulation to keep heat within the office, in summer you’ll want to keep the interior of the office as cool as possible. Good insulation levels will facilitate this.

The floor, walls and roof should all be insulated

For optimum performance, the floors, walls and roof of a garden office should all be well insulated. This might seem obvious, but some buildings sold as garden offices do not feature insulation in all three elements. Log cabin buildings, for instance, might feature insulation in the floor and roof, but not in the walls. Unless you opt for a high spec log cabin that uses a substantial thickness timber, you will be metaphorically be watching your heat flow through the walls.

Insulation in the floor, walls and roof of an office should be coupled with double glazing in the doors and windows. It is useless having a well-insulated building that lets the heat leak through single glazing. In reality, a quality garden office is going to come with double glazing as standard, and in fact, many suppliers choose to use special coatings on the glass and gases between the panes to enhance the performance further. Our research has shown that some garden offices that cost less than £5,000 are still offering only single glazed doors and windows as their standard option.

Different insulation systems are used

There are two key building systems used to create a garden office. The traditional method is to use a timber frame core structure. This system creates voids in the frame which are then filled with insulation. The second option is to use a structurally insulated panels which are known as SIP’s. These panels are a sandwich of layers of structural board and a foam insulated middle. These SIP’s panels have become very popular in recent years with some suppliers utilising the same SIP’s as are used to build a house, while other firms have developed their own ‘in-house’ version making use of foil backed insulation sheets.

There are lots of different insulations used in garden office construction

There are several different types of insulation used in garden office design. We look at each of them in detail in this article. When researching your options, you will find that the most commonly used option are PIR insulations such as Celotex. PIR Insulation is a rigid foam board that has a foil finish on each side. It has become very popular with garden office designers because a highly insulated wall can be created without it having to be too thick. This benefits you the customer in that you are achieving a well-insulated room, without sacrificing valuable interior space by having very thick walls.

PIR foil backed insulation is often used to insulate a garden office
PIR foil backed insulation is often used to insulate a garden office

Insulated garden office designs

We only feature insulated garden offices on this site. Our experience tells us that buying a garden office that is insulated in the floor, walls and roof, and also features double glazed doors and windows is your best long term bet when it comes to usability and long term investment. If you would like to explore some insulated garden office designs take a look at this section of our site.

Suggested further reading:

 

Crane a garden office into the garden

When buying a garden office, there are three ways of installing the building in your garden. By far the most popular system is to use an off-site construction system whereby the building is manufactured in the supplier’s workshops and delivered to site in sections and then quickly assembled. The second system used is to build the garden office from scratch on-site. With this system, the supplier has the timber delivered to you home and creates the structure from scratch in your garden; this system takes longer than the prefabricated first option. The third option and the most dramatic transformation is to have the fully built office craned into your garden.

Garden office installed by a crane
This is a Timeless Garden Room being moved by crane

Craning in a garden office can often overcome access problems

Often when access to the garden is limited, the option of craning the office building comes into the equation. While a significant cost, it’s probably not as expensive as you think. In some situations where the road and the intended site for the office are fairly close together, the lifting equipment on the hi-ab lorry the building is transported on is sufficient for the task. When the intended site is further from the road or if the building needs to be literally lifted over the house a full-size crane is ordered.

When this system is chosen, the building will be built in the supplier’s workshop. It will be designed so that the strops of the lifting equipment can be attached without them damaging the structure and the finishes of the building.

On installation day the building will be lifted on to a flat bed lorry and transported to your site. Depending on the size of the building, your supplier will have to organise a movement order with the Police because of the wide load. Insurance should be taken out for the period of transport and during the ‘lifts’.

Garden office installed by crane
The initial lift was onto a flat bed lorry for transportation to its new home.
Garden office installed by crane
A lot of organisation goes into these moves, your supplier will notify the Police about the movement of a wide load.

A lot of organisation goes into these deliveries. If a crane is being used, its delivery needs to be dovetailed with the arrival of the lorry with the office, and any potential blockage in the road needs to be notified to the Authorities. You’ll want the process to run smoothly so as to avoid disruption to neighbours etc.

The foundations will have been prepared in advance

The foundations of the garden office will have been prepared in advance of the building arriving on-site. This means that it will be lifted off the lorry and straight onto its base. This should be a straightforward, yet nerve-wracking process! There will be several workers on-site to guide the building into position; the crane driver will often use a remote control unit to manage the lift – it really is incredible to watch!

Once the building is in place it will be checked for any defects, and these will be repaired, otherwise often the only thing that is left to do is to connect the electrical system that will have been pre-wired, to the mains supply in your house.

With this process, your new garden office can be fully installed and ready to use in just as few hours.

Consideration for the lift needs to go into the design

Extra consideration needs to go into the design of the garden office when it is going to be lifted by a crane. There are significant loads that are going to be put on the core structure during the lift to be considered. To overcome these stresses, extra support will be put into key elements of the structure.

Timeless Garden Rooms have experience craning in a garden office

Timeless Garden Rooms have experience craning in garden office buildings to clients gardens. The photos in this article are actually of an office they built 20 years ago, but in 2016 lifted up and transported to a new home. To talk to them about your options in craning a garden office into your garden, give them a call on 01843 821 851 or visit their website to learn more about their work.

Suggested further reading:

 

Fence post foundations for a garden office

There are many types of foundation suitable for use when building a garden office, but fence posts are not one of them. We were recently contacted by someone who was working with a local builder to create a garden office building. Her builder had said that he was going to use fence posts driven into the ground with Metpost spikes as the foundation system. The lady contacted us to ask if this was a suitable foundation system for a garden office, as she wasn’t sure it was.

Fence post foundations for a garden office
A fence post is great for hanging your hat on, but not so great for supporting your garden office

Frankly, we were alarmed that this system had been suggested as a suitable foundation for a garden office. These metal posts are great – for fences, but not for taking the loads that are involved in a furnished garden office building!

The foundations chosen for a garden office building should be determined on a site by site basis. Your site will be assessed during the site survey; your designer will then suggest the system that is best suited to your site conditions. There are several foundations systems to choose from, ranging from traditional concrete slabs, concrete ring foundations and spaced concrete piles to modern options like ground screws and eco-friendly plinth foundations that can be removed cleanly from the site should the building be removed from the site. We look at the different foundation options in this article.

Work with a specialist

This ladies question is a clear example of why you should work with a specialist garden office designer. We know there are lots of general builders and landscapers who offer to build a garden office, often quite cheaply, but there is a lot that goes into a garden office design, and it really does pay to work with a specialist.

The garden office designers we feature on this site have developed tried and tested building systems, combined together they have thousands of successful projects under their belt and will be able to create a building that will last for many decades.

We know that a garden office is a big ticket purchase, and we all want to find the best deal we can, but don’t cut corners on who you choose to design and build it. By working with a garden office specialist, you will be ensuring that you create a building that will stand the test of time and add value to your life and to the value of your house.

Suggested further reading:

 

Garden office a journalists choice of workspace

We watched this garden office build take shape on Twitter, so were pleased when Sanctum Garden Studios sent through details of the specification and the finished building. @audiolympics is a sports journalist who wanted to create a dedicated office which offered all the benefits of working from home, but somewhere you could close the door on at the end of a day’s work.

@audiolympics asked Sanctum Garden Studios to build him a 3.6m x 2.4m garden office from their Contemporary Range. He chose the option with the eaves detail, the other option is to have a cubed roof line which some consider more modern. Sanctum’s customer chose to upgrade the standard interior finish to a fully plastered and decorated finish. He also swapped the standard American Walnut laminate floor for a lighter looking Light Oak finish. For the colder days of the year, he also specified a slimline wall heater which sits discreetly on one wall and will provide pretty instant heat when needed.

Finished Sanctum Garden StudioPlastered and decorated interior of a Sanctum Garden StudioElectric heater in a Sanctum Garden Studio

@audiolympics tweeted several photos during the build; that clearly show some of the steps that go into the building of a Sanctum Garden Studio:

More examples of Sanctum Garden Studios Contemporary Range:

Internal walls can be used to divide a garden office up

Potter runs her business in a second garden office

Twin aspect garden office

To learn more about this garden office or to talk through your own ideas give Sanctum Garden Studios a call on 01204 460 450 or visit their website.

Second hand garden office

A rare chance has come up to buy an 18-month-old garden office building from the Booths Garden Studios QC6 range. The office is 2730mm x 1820mm and has been used by a school who now need to sell it.

The cost of the building new was £10,502, and the school are looking for £7,000. Booths Garden Studios offer a service whereby they will dismantle the office, transport it and assemble it in your garden. The price for this service starts at £2,400 + VAT. There is also a transportation cost by the mile to factor in.

If you are interested in this second-hand garden office, ring the school directly – The Willows 01235 810 136 and then contact Booths Garden Studios for costs on the dismantle / assembly costs. Their email is iain@boothsgardenstdudios.co.uk, and their phone number is 07590 067 120.

Read more about this second-hand garden office on the Booths Garden Studios website.

Further reading:

The differences between Booths Garden Studios QCB and QC6 ranges.

Booths Garden Studios gallery of builds

 

Ditch the train, buy a garden office

This January train tickets will rise an average 23%, a staggering price hike just to get to work! Luckily with remote working becoming much easier and accepted by many employers, you have options, and a garden office is a great one.

We have just looked up to see what it would cost us to commute annually from Garden Office HQ in Salisbury to London and it’s a staggering £5,140 per year! You could buy a garden office for this amount and reduce your commute to a couple of minutes each way.

By investing in a garden office, you are creating a professional, dedicated workspace. You have all the discipline of going out of the house to work, and can easily keep office hours, but with the benefits of working from home.

Garden offices come fully wired electrically, and it is easy to incorporate telephone and internet connections so you can communicate with anywhere in the world. Over the years we have talked to garden office owners who do big business all over the world from the bottom of their garden. Their office offers them the flexibility to pop into the office when they need to take a conference call late at night with colleagues in Australia.

Several of the garden office designers we feature on this site offer buildings that cost not much more than an annual season ticket. This example by Warwick Buildings comes in at £5,000 so based on our season ticket between Salisbury & London it would pay for itself in just a year.

At least with a garden office, you have something tangible to look at for your money. Cutting the commute to a couple of minutes will give you back hours of valuable time each month, in short, its life changing 🙂

A box within a box

In an ideal world, every garden where a garden office was to be built would have easy access and be perfectly level. Unfortunately, this is seldom the case. Luckily though garden office designers have a toolbox full of tricks to overcome the most tricky of sites. A good example of this is a recent project by SIPS Garden Rooms which they affectionally refer to as a ‘box within a box’.

SIPS Garden Rooms client wanted to create a self-contained garden office with shower room in their small garden. So far nothing too unusual here. The thing is that the design had to fit within a site surrounded by four walls, owned by two different properties one of which is a school- tricky! In addition to the confines of the four walls, the drainage and water supplies were located under the actual site of the building!

The building has been positioned 450mm from each wall, so it is totally free standing, this also leaves room for future maintenance and for the water, sewage and drainage systems of the building to be incorporated.

The deliveries of materials had to be timed so as not to block the narrow lane leading to the site and disturbing the school. Also, space within site was tight for storing materials before they were needed.

As their name suggests, SIPS Garden Rooms build their buildings on a house quality structural insulated panel core. The exterior of this building has been classed in a pre-painted black weatherboard cladding. Weatherboard cladding gives the exterior of an office a substantial feel; it has mixed well here with the frames of the doors & windows.

A standing seam mono pitch roof has been used on this project. We don’t often see this system used in garden office design. It was chosen here because of its durability should a tile from one of the surrounding properties ever fall on the building.

Internally the main room has a light and airy feel thanks to the sloping roof and the plastered and decorated walls and ceiling; this has been mixed with a wooden floor creating a very modern room. The whole building has underfloor heating fitted which can easily be controlled with the touch screen controls.

A fully equipped shower room leads off the main room, the SIPS Garden Rooms team connected the facilities to the mains supplies. From start to finish this 5 meter x 3-meter building was completed in 12 days.

This is a clever example of designing a substantial size garden office in a confined plot. To learn more about how SIPS Garden Rooms can maximise your site give them a call on 01865 600 697 or visit their website to learn more about their work.

Run your beauty business from the corner of your garden

Garden office buildings make great premises for beauty therapist businesses. They offer a professional work environment to welcome your clients too, and if you go as far as incorporating a toilet into the design, your clients need never have to go into your home. This creates a clear distinction between work and home life, yet offering all the benefits of working from home.

Executive Garden Rooms have recently designed and built a garden office for a beauty therapist to run her business from in London. They were tasked with creating a 4 meter wide by 4.4-meter deep building in the corner of the garden.

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Executive Garden Rooms client opted to incorporate a toilet with wash basin into the corner of the room. They also specified a second basin in the main room for use during treatments. This second basin has been incorporated into a series of units designed to store towels, equipment and products. Executive Garden Rooms often design storage into their garden offices to their client’s specification.

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The toilet needed to be plumbed in to meet current Building Regulations, but the Executive Garden Rooms design all their buildings to meet Building Control standards, so this wasn’t too much of an issue for them.

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The interior has a light and modern feel and is fully wired electrically. The electrics include LED downlights a smoke alarm and Cat6 data cabling for easy connection to the internet. A mix of LED downlights and PIR security lighting have been fitted externally, so the commute back down the garden path will be well lit.

The grey UPVC doors and windows have been mixed with a greeny-grey Cedral weatherboard cladding. This cement based boarding requires no long-term maintenance and is Building Control compliant so ideal in situations like this where the office is sited close to the boundary of the garden.

Lisa, Executive Garden Rooms client had this to say about the project:

From the moment we met Ben and Alison we felt completely comfortable and we had complete trust in what they were offering to do for us. They were the first company that visited the site and as they made a big first impression on us. That is why we chose EGR’s as our supplier.

Executive Garden Rooms are a very well run family based business.  From Ben being on site, to Alison in the office. The detail in the communication between us was exceptional.  The final product is truly amazing. I would highly recommend this company to anybody.  

To learn more about creating a beauty therapy room in the corner of your garden talk to the Executive Garden Rooms team on 01202 874 766 or visit their website.

Visit a few garden offices this Christmas

If you have some free time over the Christmas period and fancy doing some research into your garden office project, why not take a trip to Buckinghamshire and look around the Green Retreats / The Garden Office showroom.

The indoor showroom houses a host of different size and styles of garden office, which you can go in and get a real idea of what you do and don’t like to incorporate into your own office building. Just by visiting the show site you will get a £200 voucher to put towards your garden office.

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The showroom is open at the following times over the festive period:

1 – 22 December: 9 am to 5 pm weekdays & 9 am to 2 pm at weekends

23 December: 9 am to 2 pm

24 – 27 December: Closed

28 – 30 December: 9am to 5pm

31 December – 2 January: Closed

3 January onwards: 9 am to 5 pm weekdays & 9 am to 2 pm at weekends

You’ll find the showroom at:

Hangar 4
Westcott Venture Park
Westcott
Buckinghamshire
HP18 0XB

0800 999 8 777

Can a garden office be attached to the house

A garden office buyer recently emailed us to ask if a garden office can be attached to the house like an extension. This is a question we have been asked a few times over the years. The answer is a simple yes they can, but not all garden office suppliers offer this service.

Garden office designers like Swift Garden Rooms will happily work with you to create a garden office that is attached to your house. They will design a building especially for you, in keeping with the layout and style of your house.

A garden office extension can include all the features of a standalone garden office such as high levels of insulation and large expanses of glazing, but with the convenience of flowing off from a room in your house.

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With the change in Permitted Development rules relating to extensions a couple of years ago, you now have a lot of flexibility in the size of extension you can add to your house without having to apply for Planning Permission. Designers from specialist firms like Swift Garden Rooms will advise you on your options when you book a free site visit.

A garden office extension is a very quick way of extending your home. Once you have finalised your design and layout, the building will be manufactured off-site. All the parts will then be delivered to your site for a streamlined building process which can take  a couple of weeks from start to finish. Because the bulk of the work goes on outside your house, there is very little disruption to family life as the build progresses.

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Working with a firm like Swift Garden Rooms is a fully project managed process. They will organise all the different trades and delivery of the materials, all you have to do is to sit back and watch your new room take shape.

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These photos show just some of the garden office extensions that the Swift Garden Rooms team have built. To learn more about attaching a garden office to your house talk to the Swift team on 01625 875 588 or visit their website for more examples of their work.

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