Inside story

Elevate your home work space with a garden room

As we approach the anniversary of Covid-19 restrictions – and, for many, working from home full-time – the way we are thinking about our home work spaces has changed. The kitchen table or tiny desk crammed in next to the spare bed were fine when working in pyjamas was a novelty, but now we need solutions for the long haul, in terms of boosting both productivity and the way we feel about our homes.

Recent research by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) showed that 17 per cent of homeowners are looking to create an office space to support working from home permanently. The issue is how to create a quiet space that will allow us to separate home life from work life: a matter that has been brought to the fore as families have juggled working, homeschooling and living in very close quarters. This may explain why selfcontained garden rooms have soared in popularity over the past year: searches for ‘garden

office’ were already up 72 per cent on the home-improvement website houzz.co.uk by the end of last summer.

‘We have seen an increase in demand from clients with ample garden space, now not only considering the landscaping design, but also prioritising an additional garden room to be used as a recreational retreat or as a work-from-home study,’ says architect Alex Michaelis (michaelisboyd.com), who designed a modern flat-roofed version, clad in charred timber, for a family home in London. ‘With lockdown, these are proving to be a welcome haven away from the bustle of busy main houses.’

A custom-designed garden room allows for endless possibilities, aesthetically as well as practically. Another example, by AO Architecture (aoarchitecture. co.uk), lined with marble on the outside and timber on the inside, acts as an office during the week and a bar at the weekend, allowing its owners to keep both work and entertaining away from

the family spaces of the rest of their home.

Prefab structures that can save on time and costs are similarly in hot demand: the homeware brand Bert & May, known for its covetable patterned tiles, also produces stand-alone ‘Bert’s Boxes’, like little cabins, and has seen a 50 per cent increase in enquiries since the first lockdown started.

Its latest, the Study

Box (from £33,000, bertsbox.co.uk), is designed specifically as an office, with full-height Crittall-style windows to connect homeworkers with their outside space.

The new breed of garden room has a cool, contemporary aesthetic and a focus on improving the concentration levels and overall happiness of whoever is using it. ‘If there is one thing we have all learnt from this pandemic, it’s that our mental and emotional health is hugely impacted by the environment surrounding us,’ says Freddie Sheridan of design agency Sheridan&co, which recently launched a collection of bespoke garden rooms that it calls Breathing Rooms (from £15,000, spacetofokus. com). Similarly characterised by walls of glazing that open up the space to the outside world, the structures are intended, says Sheridan, to ‘empower you to work your best, be productive, and boost your well-being’.

I built my garden office about five years ago, after I was made redundant and went freelance. I had started out working in our spare room, which was tiny: I wasn’t even able to shut the door. I knew our house couldn’t be extended, so the solution was to instal an outbuilding.

I found a specialist company, Green Studios (green-studios. com; prices from around £19,000), and decided to have glass doors along one side so

that I had a good view. There’s a high window and a skylight to maximise the amount of daylight coming in without causing any privacy concerns. I also wanted a ‘green’ sedum roof to replace the lawn area the studio took up, which has helped to redress the balance of my garden, and attracts wildlife.

I often tell people that building the studio was the best thing I could have done. Not only does it mean I have a dedicated work space, I can close the door on it at the end of a day. It’s proved to be priceless for my well-being and work-life balance.

Left A glasssided Breathing Room garden office by Fokus (spaceto fokus.com)

Right The timber cladding of this garden room by Michaelis Boyd (michaelisboyd. com) contrasts nicely with the foliage

Owner Faye Hamilton works in her garden studio, designed by AO Architecture (aoarchitecture.co.uk)

MY GARDEN ROOM Freelance writer Rachel Ogden explains how she created her WFH space Ogden in her garden room: ‘It’s the best thing I could have done’

The Study Box by Bert & May (bertsbox. co.uk) includes a small terrace The interior of this Plankbridge shepherd’s hut has a relaxed feel

The interior of Rachel Ogden’s garden room