L-Shape Garden Office with Storage by Garden Spaces
Published: 25 September 2026
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Garden Spaces are experienced in designing a garden room that achieves the customer's vision while incorporating the challenges of the site. This garden office in Cobham, Surrey, had a few of those. The garden next door sits almost a metre lower. Access was extremely tight. The client also wanted to keep an established tree.
The result is an L-shaped building of 4.5m x 3m that holds a home office and a hidden store room. It shows that a comfortable home office with discreet storage can be created on a relatively compact footprint.
An L-Shape That Works Around the Tree
The office takes up most of the building, at 3.18m x 2.68m inside, or 8.5sqm. The store sits along one end, at 0.9m x 1.91m internally, and is set back 800mm from the front of the office. That step creates the L, which gave the client a store room and kept the building clear of the tree.
The store has its own lockable door, set into the corner of the L and finished in black like the walls around it. It is a more streamlined and discreet solution than a separate shed, and a very popular option with garden room buyers, as you can see in these projects.
A Challenging Site
With the neighbouring property almost 1.0m lower, Garden Spaces used longer ground screws than usual to give the building a stable and long-lasting foundation.
Getting materials into the garden was the other challenge, as access was extremely tight. The building is made from Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), which arrive flat-packed and are assembled on site, so it went in panel by panel.
The rear wall sits close to the boundary, leaving only a narrow gap once the building was in. The team advised the client to replace the existing fencing with new material before installation, while there was still room to do it.
Black Timber at the Front, Cement Board Behind
The front elevation is clad in black stained timber, fixed vertically so you get the shadow lines of the joints, and the fascia of the 300mm canopy is clad to match, with downlights set into its underside. The glazing is black aluminium: 1.8m French doors facing the garden and an 800mm opening side window that brings light in from a second direction.
The less prominent elevations, including the rear that faces the boundary, are finished in cement particle board. It won't rot and needs very little looking after, which suits walls that are difficult to reach. Finished in black, it matches the timber, so the building reads as one colour from every side.
Well Insulated and Finished as an Office
The SIPs that form the core structure give the building a well-insulated shell. In the office, walls and ceiling are plastered and decorated, with recessed downlights and a laminate floor.
A 1200mm high-level window in the rear wall brings in daylight and a view of the treetops, while keeping the wall facing the neighbours private. Beneath it is a glass-fronted, wall-mounted electric heater.
The store room is left with the OSB face of the SIPs exposed. It is a durable surface, ideal for a storage area.
Ready to Work From Day One
Garden Spaces design the electrical specification around each client: the position and number of sockets, the lighting, and connectivity to the internet. The aim is that the owners of their offices can move in and start work as the team leaves site. They also handle the electrical hookup to the house as part of the project.
Learn More
Garden Spaces design and build bespoke garden rooms and garden offices across mainland England and Wales. To find out more, explore www.gardenspaces.co.uk to see more examples of their work, call the team on 0845 387 9 387, or email info@gardenspaces.co.uk.
