Gran Designs Live is a great show for seeing different garden office designs up close. Several companies exhibit their work there, and while the stands won’t literally be side by side, a visit is a good way to compare and contrast. Visiting the different companies will give you a chance to see the quality of the building, talk through your options for personalising the design, and compare prices.
Grand Designs Live runs twice a year, once in London and then later in the year in Birmingham. From experience, the London show tends to feature more garden office companies than the Birmingham one. The next London show runs 5 – 13 May 2018 and the next Birmingham show is 10 – 14 October 2018.
Following a trip to the London show last year, and talking to several garden office companies, this customer decided that Garden Spaces were the people to create their perfect garden office.
Garden Spaces offer a bespoke design service whereby they work with each of their customers to design the building that works for their needs. In this case, the Garden Spaces customer wanted to create a home office with integrated storage shed.
A specific size office can be created with bespoke design
With bespoke design, the building can be a specific size, to maximise the space available. If you were to buy a more modular design, you would you would find you were limited to more standard sizes like whole and half meters. This building is a specific, 5.09 meters by 3.69 meters, making use of every millimetre of space available.
Office with integrated storage shed
The rectangular building has been partitioned to create an integrated storage area in one corner. This is accessed via a ‘secret’ door on the front elevation. The storage area is 2.6m deep by 1m wide, equalling 2.6sqm of storage space. This leaves 12.7sqm for the office.
Storage rooms like this are typically lined with OSB boards offering a durable, practical finish. A strip light has been fitted to light the room.
A wall of bi-fold doors
The front wall of the office area has been fitted with a 4-leaf set of bi-fold doors. Each door is 900mm wide, and the floor to ceiling glazing floods the room with natural light. The doors smoothly fold to one side, creating a wonderful connection with the garden. It’s particularly nice working in a garden office when you can slide the doors back and maximise the connection with the garden.
Garden Spaces customer chose the aluminium option for the doors and windows. This is a quality upgrade to the standard uPVC and is worth considering if your budget permits. The dark grey finish contrasts well with the Cedar cladding.
Cedar cladding on the visible elevations
Cedar cladding is by far the most popular option for a garden offices external finish. It is also one of the most expensive options. More and more frequently we are seeing buyers choose to only use Cedar cladding on the visible elevations. They then use a cheaper, yet still low maintenance product on the hidden walls. In this case, a cement particle board has been fitted on the rear wall and painted in a grey Weathershield paint, matching the trim colours. This is a durable choice and will stand the test of time well. We think it looks pretty neat too.
Bespoke designers like Garden Spaces will be happy to mix and match claddings to suit your needs and budget.
Well specified electrics
Garden Spaces work with you to create the right electrical specification for needs. For instance, if you need specific task lighting in one area or have lots of things to plug-in, you can order extra power points. In this case, 7 LED downlights have been fitted in the ceiling of the office. Two exterior grade LED downlights have been fitted outside. Four double power points have been dotted around the office. All these fittings have brushed steel plates.
Garden Spaces offices are highly insulated thanks to the SIPs core structure. As with any garden office though, it is wise to have some heating for the coldest days of the year. Garden Spaces offer several options including air conditioning and underfloor heating. In this case, the customer chose their slimline panel heater. As you can see, this is a discreet, yet efficient option.
To learn more about Garden Spaces work, take a look at their website or give them a call on 0845 387 9387. It is highly likely that you will find Garden Spaces exhibiting at Grand Designs Live in May.