Hub’s a real home help
IF THERE is one positive to come out of the pandemic it’s our ability to adapt. Businesses have reinvented themselves by offering takeaway services and online shops, while the property industry tackled social distancing with video calls and personal sales appointments. Now some developers are reacting to our “new normal” lives by providing instant solutions to working from home.
New- build buyers at some developments can now add a garden office to their home, ready to use the instant they move in.
This saves buyers time and the extra cost of hiring contractors to build a garden room, which is equally useful as a hobby studio, playroom or a place to find peace and quiet.
Thakeham Homes has designed the Home Hub. Made from Western Red Cedar, they come in two sizes – 65 and 119 square feet – and have fully insulated neutral walls and ceiling, vinyl flooring plus doubleglazed PVC- U doors and windows.
Each hub has mains power and an infrared panel heater plus recessed lights and sockets for power, telephones and data.
Depending on the size, they cost an additional £ 17,500 or £ 25,000 and can be included in the overall cost of a new home at Thakeham’s Woodgate development in Pease Pottage, West Sussex, where three and four- bedroom houses are for sale from £ 545,000 to £ 630,000 ( 01293 225615; thakeham- homes. com).
Woodgate has road and rail connections to London and Brighton, shops and leisure facilities in nearby Crawley and Horsham, with a primary school set to open in 2021.
“The pandemic has created a shift in our
OFFICE WORKS: Thakeham Homes’ hub has fully insulated walls and ceiling, vinyl flooring plus double- glazed PVC- U doors and windows working lives and with flexible working set to continue for the foreseeable future, we wanted to provide our purchasers with the option to further enhance their new home to meet the requirements of their changing lifestyles,” says Rob Boughton, CEO at Thakeham Group.
Similar Home Hub buildings will be available at Thakeham developments in south east England, while CALA Homes has partnered with Livingston- based Urbanpods to become one of the first homebuilders in Scotland to give buyers the option to include a garden room as part of their purchase.
Demand
CALA’s Urbanpods have Siberian larch cladding and are fully plastered and painted inside, with lighting and a panel heater. Extras include bi- fold doors and high- speed hard- wired internet.
An Ufficio Urbanpod is on view in the show home garden at CALA’s Kinnaird Lee development in the Forth Valley near Larbert, close to busy Falkirk and a 30- minute drive from Glasgow.
Larbert railway station, a five- minute drive, has trains to Glasgow and Edinburgh, plus a nine- minute service to Stirling, while Kinnaird Village is close to open countryside, several golf clubs and leisure facilities including The Helix, which has instructor- led water sports, cycle routes, kayak hire and canal boat rides.
“We’re seeing more demand for additional space as flexible home working becomes the norm, so our partnership with Urbanpods allows us to go one step further in giving our customers exactly what they need,” says Liana Canavan, sales and marketing director at CALA Homes ( West).
Prices at Kinnaird Lee range from £ 279,000 to £ 499,000 for three- bedroom semi- detached, four and five- bedroom detached houses ( cala. co. uk) with a website register now open for those interested.
Ufficio Urbanpods start from £ 12,200 + VAT and are available with a BoConcept home office furniture package from
£ 1,597 + VAT.
“They’re great for home offices but they also make luxurious home salons for those working in hair and beauty; pilates, yoga and gym studios, or cosy media and gaming rooms,” says Ross Iwaniec, director at Urbanpods. “The possibilities are endless.”
GIFT FROM THE PODS: Trendy Urbanpods have a heater and are fully plastered inside