Speak to any garden room company, and they will say that their buildings can be used as a home gym. The thing is, many of these companies have a one size fits all approach and don't offer options to tailor the design and specification to the unique requirements of using it as a gym.
Buying a garden gym is different to buying a garden office
Buying a garden room for use as a home gym is very different to buying one that you may use as an art studio or home office. As a gym buyer, you'll want the option of creating a taller building than the standard 2.5m high so that you have plenty of headroom when using the equipment. You'll want peace of mind that the foundation system and floor structure will take the weight of your chosen equipment and stand the test of time.
This is where working with a garden gym specialist comes in. They have the expertise to run calculations for each client on the weight of the equipment they plan to add to their garden room gym and the forces involved when using it. If these calculations don't occur, you could run into problems such as the floor sagging and the foundation completely failing in the worst-case scenario.
High spec gym experience - at home
You'll want options so that you can create a similar experience as at your High Street gym - at home. You may want to add floor to ceiling mirrors and wall and ceiling mounted equipment which all benefit from reinforcing measures within the core structure. How about a TV for watching as you exercise or so you can join a virtual class. Then there's controlling the temperature; you may want to add air conditioning so that you can set the perfect temperature - all year round.
At the end of a workout, you may want the convenience of having a shower room where you can freshen up without having to trail back up to the house.
Even if you only want to add a few of these features to your gym building, you'll want to work with a garden room company specialising in gym buildings rather than a company that offers a one-size-fits-all approach.
Garden Spaces are garden gym specialists
Garden Spaces have made a name for themselves as garden gym specialists. Garden Spaces are one of the longest established names in the industry; we first wrote about them in 2009.
Having built thousands of garden rooms over the years, they understand how every customer has a unique vision and how a garden room specification can be tailored to serve its intended use best.
While a Garden Spaces garden room is well specified as standard, they also offer an extensive palette of options so you can customise your garden gym building to your needs. Their garden gym options include:
- A reinforced floor (various options) to hold the weight of your gym equipment – even heavy weights or hot tubs
- Strengthened wall and ceiling mounts, to allow for the fitting of TV brackets, punch bags etc.
- Multiple plug points and floor sockets, so you have the flexibility to move equipment around if you want to
- A choice of flooring – including our hard-wearing, non-slip rubber surfaces
- Variable ceiling heights, that allows you to use your gym equipment comfortably
- Television point, so you can watch TV while you workout
- Full climate control, including heating, cooling , dehumidifying and air circulation
- Private shower room, where you can freshen up before returning to the house
Example of a tailor-made garden gym by Garden Spaces
This stylish garden gym in Esher is an excellent example of how Garden Spaces can customise the specification for their customers and how they handle all aspects of the build.
Garden Spaces clients wanted to create a garden room with increased ceiling height for gym use. This required a planning application which was handled by the Garden Spaces team on their client's behalf.
The right foundation is the basis of a successful garden gym. Garden Spaces go to additional lengths to ensure they are installing the right foundation for each project, unlike many of their competitors.
On this project, once the designs had gained planning approval, the Garden Spaces team performed a screw pile pull ground test to check they were installing the correct screws for the gym usage and the ground conditions. They did this test well in advance of the booked installation date. We know that not all garden room companies go to these efforts; instead, just turning up on installation day, installing the screw piles they have on hand and hoping for the best!
The pull tests identified slightly poor ground conditions, so Garden Spaces installed 1550mm ground screws - driving down further than the standard 1250mm.
Garden Spaces heavily reinforced the floor structure to support the weight of several pieces of gym equipment. Garden Spaces have structural engineers on hand who run the calculations to best advise clients on the reinforcement requirements of their intended use.
For the floor of their gym, Garden Spaces clients chose to lay a specialist 8mm rubber crumb floor which is hard wearing and impact resistant. It also looks really good, as we can see from this photo.
Garden Spaces clients also chose to install integral blinds in the doors and windows. The blinds are discreetly fitted between the glazing, so they have a minimalist profile, but are really useful for controlling both light and privacy within the gym.
Like all Garden Spaces garden rooms, this gym has a high-spec plastered and decorated interior, creating a light, modern space. The electrical specification was highly customised to the client's requirements.
The exterior of the gym is low maintenance. The walls have been clad with Cedral Click composite cladding. The boards are pigmented during the manufacturing process, so they will maintain their colour without the requirement to repaint. The doors, windows and trims are powder-coated aluminium, and the roof is finished with an EPDM membrane. All these finishes have decades-long, maintenance-free lifespans.
Experience pays when building a garden gym
A company's experience does pay when building a garden gym building. Garden Spaces' expertise saved the day for their clients with this stylish Cedar clad gym.
Garden Spaces clients had been in the process of buying a garden gym with another company, when that company went bust. It turns out the original company gave them questionable advice, and the building they had suggested would not have been fit for the family's requirements.
After listening to the family's wish list for their gym, Garden Spaces redesigned the plans, creating a highly bespoke building. Garden Spaces also resubmitted the planning application to allow for the increased internal height that the family wanted. As we can see, it looks fantastic!
Roger Hedges, Director of Garden Spaces, commented to us:
"At Garden Spaces, we always provide great and honest advice built on many years of experience in the garden room arena. We have the technical capability to deliver truly bespoke projects, and we are a rare genuine 'one stop shop'. We find customers really want to use one contractor for all their needs, and we can build far more complex structures with far more red tape in the Education environment."
One Stop Shop for your garden gym project
As Roger mentions, Garden Spaces are a 'One stop shop' for garden rooms. They handle all aspects of the project for their clients, from design conception and handling any planning application. They then undertake the whole build, from installing the foundation system right through to connecting the electrics and any plumbing to the mains services.
We have explored Garden Spaces 'One stop shop' service in detail here, but some of the highlights are:
- Any size, layout, configuration or specification
- Garden Spaces take care of it all – Genuine 'One stop shop'
- Clear, detailed and transparent pricing
- Full deposit cover and insurance backed guarantee
- Well established and design focussed company
- 'Form' and 'Function' are very carefully considered
- Outstanding independent customer reviews
- Use all year round – efficient to run
Talk through your garden gym ideas
To learn more about creating a garden gym, chat with the Garden Spaces team on 0845 387 9 387 or send them an email: info@gardenspaces.co.uk. Check out the garden gym section on the Garden Spaces website to explore all the options to personalise your space.
