The Top 3 Things to Consider When Deciding to Build A Garden Room
Garden rooms provide a great way to extend your home and enjoy the outdoors all year round. Garden rooms can be used for a variety of purposes, such as extra living space, a home office, a playroom for the kids, a hobby room or even a gym. If you are considering adding a garden room to your home, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.
Purpose
What purpose will the garden room serve and what are its specific functions? This will help you determine the size and layout of the space. You could have one large space or two or more smaller spaces, for example an office and a gym, or an entertaining space and a storage area. You may want to have an outdoor seating area and as such you may want to incorporate large doors into your design. This can really help to blur the boundary between inside and outside and can create some spectacular looking designs. Going down this route introduces a completely new way to enjoy your garden: one minute you can be watching the Wimbledon final from your outdoor seating area and the next you can be sat inside away from the heat or cold but somehow feeling like you are still outdoors.
Entertainment space: Creating a seamless boundary between the inside and outside
Environment
You need to consider the climate in your area and also when and how often you plan on using it to understand the insulation needs of your garden room. We can advise in this respect, but we would recommend 100mm PIR all round as a great starting point. If you live in a particularly cold or unsheltered area, or perhaps want an annexe that you can live in, then you may want to consider higher performance insulation options. This will ensure that you keep your heating and cooling bills to an absolute minimum. Note that this also impacts your soundproofing considerations.
Location
When considering the location of your garden room there are many things to think about but some aspects will be more important to you than others. The priorities will be specific to you and your needs but here are a few things to think about.
Privacy: would you like to have the garden room tucked away in a secluded area or are you happy to have it centre stage? You could also consider using the garden room as a way to create a secluded space
Noise: you may want to be isolated away from nearby houses, roads or garages in order to create a tranquil space. Or you may want to use the garden room for a noisy activity of your own. This can affect your choice of location
Access: You may want to garden room very close to your house so that you or your family can access it easily. Or perhaps you plan to run a small business and want to locate it near a side entrance so that people can come and go without having to come through your house or garden. You also need to be able to get to it without walking across a grassy or muddy areas - in the winter this becomes of particular importance and this important design element should be thought about now rather than later.
Sun and shade: A key consideration for location is the movement of light and shade through your garden, not just during the day, but also during the seasons. In the winter it can be nice to maximise the amount of sunlight coming inside your garden room, while in the summer the opposite can be true and you may want to avoid bright areas of the garden in order to avoid over heating. As always, a compromise is often the best option, and your decision will depend on exactly how you will use the space. As an example, if you want to use it as an office space, then you might want to avoid having your garden room face into the sunlight during the day, especially if your desk looks out into your garden. In these cases it may be better to situate your garden room to avoid direct light during the morning and early afternoon but such that it faces the sunlight during the late afternoon / early evening so that you can relax after work and enjoy the remaining hours of sunlight.
Garden view: Take advantage of an existing view with the use of large sliding doors
Pool access: Garden rooms work really well adjacent to pools and water features
At Lawnrooms, we have the experience to guide you through all of these considerations and provide a tailored solution so that your garden room is perfect for you. Contact us today to start planning your dream garden room.
