West Sussex · 8 min read
Garden Rooms in West Sussex: Home Office, Gym or Studio?
An office, a gym and a studio are three different buildings wearing the same cladding. Here is what changes between them, and how to site one properly.
Garden rooms have quietly become the most requested structure in Sussex gardens - and the most variable in quality. The cladding looks similar across the market. What differs is everything behind it, and the specification you need depends entirely on what the room is for.
The home office
An office is used every weekday from October to March, which makes thermal performance and glare the two things that matter. Specify a full insulated build-up with a proper vapour barrier, double or triple glazing with solar control, and a screen position that does not face the glass. Data matters too: run an armoured Cat6 alongside the power rather than relying on wifi through two insulated walls.
The gym
- Floor build-up: heavier joists and a resilient layer - dropped weights are unforgiving.
- Ventilation: mechanical extract or a heat recovery unit, otherwise condensation ruins the finish within two winters.
- Ceiling height: check it against overhead presses and any rig before the frame is set.
- Door width: equipment has to get in, and rowing machines do not fold.
The studio or garden lounge
A studio is about light quality and how the building sits in the garden. Here the glazing orientation, the roof overhang and the relationship to planting do more work than the insulation spec. A green roof softens the mass considerably on a smaller plot, and a side pergola extends the room into the garden for half the year.
Siting: the decision people rush
Do not default to the bottom of the garden. Consider the view back to the house, the shade cast at 3pm in December, root protection zones of mature trees, and the run distance for power. Most West Sussex garden rooms fall under permitted development, but eaves height, boundary distance, conservation areas and listed buildings all change that - check before you design, not after.
Specialist garden room builds
For dedicated garden room design and manufacture, our sister site covers the full range of studios, offices and garden buildings in more detail.