Flexible Garden Room: Home Office & Guest Accommodation
First Published: 8 November 2019
Refreshed: 30 September 2024
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Garden rooms are highly versatile spaces that can be designed for multiple uses. With the right permissions, they can also be used as sleeping accommodation, making them an ideal solution when you need extra space for friends and family to stay overnight.
This flexibility is showcased in this project by Swift Unlimited, where the client wanted to create a comfortable home office in their garden while also having the option to use the space as overnight guest accommodation. Knowing this, they chose to work with a company that could design a building compliant with Building Regulations, ensuring it would be suitable for both work and occasional sleeping use.
Home Office & Guest Bedroom
Measuring 8.15 metres by 4.65 metres, this is quite a substantial garden room! It's also a visually striking structure, designed and built by Swift Unlimited in close collaboration with their clients.
The primary purpose of the building is as a home office, but the client’s brief was to ensure it could double as a guest bedroom when needed. This dual-purpose design required careful planning and execution to meet the client’s requirements.
Planning Permission Was Required
While many garden rooms can be built under Permitted Development rules, this project required full planning permission due to its height. The garden room stands at 2.9 metres tall, exceeding the 2.5-metre height limit set by Permitted Development regulations for garden rooms of this shape. Since the client wanted a taller building, planning permission was necessary to move forward with the design.
If you’re unsure about your own planning situation, Swift Unlimited provides expert advice during their design consultations.
A Garden Room with Extensive Glazing
Swift Unlimited offers a Project Planner tool where clients can specify the features they’d like for their garden room. When completing the planner, this client expressed a desire for a building with extensive glazing to flood the space with natural light.
Swift Unlimited made this vision a reality by incorporating large, powder-coated aluminium sliding doors on the front wall, complemented by a smaller set of sliding doors on the side wall. These have been positioned to form a striking corner of glass, creating a seamless connection between the interior and the garden.
In addition to the sliding doors, a clever triangular window has been installed beside the front doors. The way it integrates with the Cedar cladding is particularly striking—almost as if the cladding has been folded back to reveal the window.
Composite Decking Connects the Room with the Garden
The sliding doors open onto a custom-designed grey composite deck, which extends the living space outdoors and helps connect the garden room with the surrounding garden. This thoughtful design detail enhances the flow between indoor and outdoor areas, making the space feel even larger and more integrated into the landscape.
Learn More
To learn more about Swift Unlimited’s bespoke design service, visit their website or get in touch with the team on 01625 875 588, or email support@swiftorg.co.uk.
