Working from home, and with a new baby due, Hargreaves Garden Spaces client needed to extend their house to create an extra room that could be used as an office and free up a bedroom.
At first, they went along the route of adding a traditional extension to their house. But, due to the ground level and the location of mains drains, they were quoted £18,000 just for the drain to be moved, before they even started on the extension!
Reconsidering their options, they decided that a purpose-built garden office would be the solution. They chose to work with Hargreaves Garden Spaces, who created a bespoke design that slots into a space beside the house.
The garden office is 3.5m deep by 2.5m wide and has been positioned tight to two walls to maximise the available space. Because the rear and right-hand elevations are tight to the walls and therefore inaccessible for maintenance, they have been clad in composite wood cladding. Composite wood cladding will not rot and does not require painting, so it is a good choice for such locations.
We have written before about how Hargreaves Garden Spaces offer a wide range of cladding materials and will happily advise on the best choice based on your prefered aesthetic, budget and how much maintenance you want to commit to.
The front and left-hand walls have been clad in British Western Red Cedar. We recently featured a garden room with a secret storage room that Hargreaves Garden Spaces also finished in British Cedar.
Plastered and decorated interior
Inside the office, the walls and ceiling have been plastered. This photo shows the plaster as it was drying. It was then painted, creating a light modern room. The flooring is a natural oak laminate.
French doors have been fitted in the front wall, and a small opening window on the left wall. The doors and windows are Anthracite uPVC, another low maintenance choice.
The Hargreaves Garden Spaces team connected the garden offices electrics to the mains supply in the house. Not all garden room companies handle this final connection; instead, they ask you to contact a local electrician.
The electrical package included data cabling for a reliable internet connection in the office. Hargreaves Garden Spaces added two types of exterior lighting: downlights in the canopy over the doors and two up/down lights which are fitted with a movement sensor.
Custom steps
As part of their turnkey service, the Hargreaves Garden Spaces team made a set of steps leading up to the office. Again, not all companies will add these site-specific elements, but Hargeaves Garden Spaces do.
Customer review
The owner gave Hargreaves Garden Spaces a five-star review on Google:
To learn more about this project, chat with the Hargreaves Garden Spaces team on 07584 626 911 or send them an email: info@hgspaces.co.uk. Visit www.hgspaces.co.uk to see more of their work.
