Garden Sitting Room with Hot Tub Changing Room
Published: 30 April 2026
Reading Time: 2 minutes 40 seconds
This 5.4m x 3.5m Contemporary studio by Sanctum Garden Studios is a good example of a garden room designed around leisure use rather than work. The main room is set up as an insulated sitting room for all-season use, with a separate changing area alongside for the family hot tub.
The building is a bespoke take on Sanctum Garden Studios' popular Contemporary range, which is offered in Cubed and Overhang styles. Here, the owner wanted a canopy detail based on the Cubed look, but with a more defined entrance area.
Bespoke Canopy Detail
On this project, the front and left-hand walls are recessed back from the main roofline, creating a 500mm canopy overhang. This gives weather protection at the entrance and a clearer transition between the terrace and the building.
The glazing has been configured to wrap around the corner of the building, which enhances the recessed wall detail further.
Tanalised Redwood Cladding
Sanctum Garden Studios usually finish the key visible walls of their Contemporary range in Western Red Cedar. For this build, the owner chose tanalised redwood in a vertical tongue-and-groove profile, giving the studio a different character while keeping the same clean, contemporary lines.
Tanalised redwood is pressure-treated softwood, so preservative is driven into the timber to improve durability and resistance to rot. It also helped the new studio sit comfortably alongside an existing neighbouring building that already used a similar timber finish.
Main Sitting Room and Private Changing Area
Anthracite grey bifold doors open into the main sitting room. The 3m-wide door set can be folded back to one side, opening the room directly onto the terrace in warmer weather and strengthening the indoor-outdoor connection.
Inside, a partition wall creates a distinct second zone with external access, forming a changing room beside the hot tub. A single glazed door with fitted blinds gives practical privacy before and after use.
Plasterboarded Ready for Skim
Instead of the standard white melamine lining offered on the Contemporary range, the owner chose the plasterboard upgrade for a finish like a room in the house. The walls were prepared ready for the client's plasterer to skim and paint after drying, with grey laminate flooring and skirting boards installed to complete the base fit-out.
As with other Sanctum Garden Studios projects, internal light and power circuits are pre-wired and taken to an external junction box. The homeowner's electrician then connects that point to the house supply.
With this level of insulation and double glazing, the room is comfortable to use through all seasons. As the owner noted: "Even with a small 500 watt heater on, the place is very comfortable and can even be used in winter, with the larger 3kw heater warming up nicely in the space of 30 mins."
Learn More
Sanctum Garden Studios design and install well-specified garden buildings for year-round use, including bespoke versions of their Contemporary range. To discuss a similar project, visit www.sanctumgardenstudios.com, call 01257 279 161, or email info@sanctumgardenstudios.com.
