Bespoke garden rooms and offices

With the onset of Covid19, many of us out of necessity quickly adapted to working from home. And not just working from home but working-out at home as well. Yet, necessity being the mother of invention we quickly discovered working from home came with advantages.

Whether part-time or permanent, the option of being home-based has a bright future. To improve this option, many of us are looking for an alternative to basing ourselves on the kitchen or dining room table and creating a personalised and reserved home workspace. 

Open Habitat has the perfect solution: A separate, secure, and dedicated garden office or studio. A well-designed and well-constructed garden office or garden studio provides a modern facility easily fitted with business technologies and home comforts gives you a fully functional office just feet from your back door.

A home office is not your only choice. We have customers looking for independent, versatile spaces designed to combine an array of options including a gym, a home cinema, a playroom for kids, a chill-out zone for teenagers, an entertainment space, and, of course, a home office. Others want a space where they can pursue their hobbies whether it be wine collecting, sewing, art, yoga, or music.

Our quality units will give you and your family years of satisfaction and obviously will add considerable value to your home and enrich your lifestyle.

At Open Habitat, we only build our garden rooms to exceptionally high standards. All our garden rooms have the following features as standard.

As with our high spec pergolas, we always aim to exceed our customer’s expectations. When designing your garden room, you can design something special and completely bespoke.

The overall effectiveness and success of your new space relies on careful planning and consideration. We listen to your needs and then provide you with all the options. There will be many options that you may not have thought of but rest assured – we will highlight all the choices you have so that you left with a space that will exceed every family member expectation.

Our designs can include full CAD drawings when required, electrical layouts, floor finishes, AV, internet, lighting options both internal and external. Power options internal and external, Heating options, Air Con, Internet Connection, and intruder alarms.

We also offer a bespoke cabinetry service in any range of finishes. We always provide detailed drawings and elevations for all bespoke cabinetries.

Garden room finished with Cedar Cladding
fascia and soffit and black top trim

Finishing a garden room in cedar-clad fascias and soffits gives it a really premium feel. As standard, our garden rooms are also:

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Fully guaranteed for 10 Years

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Fully insulated walls, floor & roof

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Meets all building regulations

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Not flat packed but bespokely made

Less expensive Garden room finished withCedar
Cladding with black fascia and top trim

Or if you’re looking for a less expensive garden room, you might be interested in this style which still benefits from all the same great features:

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Fully guaranteed for 10 Years

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Fully insulated walls, floor & roof

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Meets all building regulations

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Not flat packed but bespokely made

At Open Habitat we take great pride in our ability to provide
well-designed and truly superior long-lasting garden offices.

As such, we offer a 10-year warranty on all our garden homes for complete peace of mind customer satisfaction.

If you are looking for a quality garden building, then please consider us for your next project.

What makes our garden rooms different?

Garden room base

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The base for all our buildings is constructed just above your ground level using a steel pile system with adjustable stainless-steel rods that allow us to build over uneven land. These piles will never move nor rust. Our system allows for ventilation beneath your building and rain-water drainage. By minimising concrete slab foundations over your garden, we do our bit for the environment. By fitting a geotextile fabric under your garden building, we prevent any weed growth while creating a friendly environment for insects and wildlife. We also fit invisible galvanised mesh beneath your building to prevent foxes from moving in – unless you do not mind then we can also omit this.

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Our base is constructed out of 100mm treated timber, doubled up and fitted with 100mm rigid insulation and covered with breathable membrane and a structurally sound and protected T&G water resistant substrate for complete peace of mind.

Garden room walls

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We construct all our walls from C16 100mm timber at 400mm centres.

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Larger openings for windows, sliding or Bi-Fold doors are fitted with steel box frame. This provides additional strength that is industry leading.

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All walls are fitted with 50mm rigid insulation. We can also include acoustic sound bloc for keeping noise in or out on top of this.

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The exterior walls are fitted with 12mm OSB cladding and covered with a breathable moisture barrier that covers all walls.

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We always fix two layers of treated battens over the exterior membrane and OSB boards to allow for good air flow behind the cladding. This methodology prolongs the lifespan of your cladding. It also allows for any services to be run without jeopardising the internal wall insulation.

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The exterior cladding can be finished a wide range of products. There are composite boards that look like wood – but without the maintenance requirements. There are less expensive treated T&G boards, metal roofing sheets or for the discerning look there is T&G Cedar which is beautiful.

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We ensure that your newly purchased Cedar is first professionally cleaned with a special chemical whereafter we neutralise the wood and allow it to dry. Moisture tests are carried out before we apply the very best high solids UV protected oil which enhances the natural beauty of the wood. This is a non-film forming product that will not peel or flake. The fix pattresses to allow for future installations and hanging of heavy items like TV’s or gym equipment.

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The internal walls of your building are wrapped with a vapour barrier before we fix 12.5mm plasterboard throughout.

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All walls are completed with a plaster skimmed finish.

Garden room windows & doors

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We supply and fit a choice of aluminium Sliding or Bi-fold doors and windows. Our customers can see examples of all the doors and windows in our partner show room.

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Crittall style French doors and windows are also very popular.

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All our doors and windows exceed building regulation values, and they are all fully guaranteed and fitted by professional installers.

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We can offer either Cortizo, Schuco or Smarts window & door options.

Garden room roof & ceiling

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Your roof will slope from the front entrance to the building to the back.

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Permitted height is 2.5 meters from the highest point in your garden.

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The roof is constructed with solid C24 (125mm x 50mm) roof joists that are doubled up for structures over 3 meters deep to provide additional rigidity and unparalleled strength.

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The joists are filled with 100mm rigid insulation up against the underside of the roof substrate.

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A vapour barrier is wrapped over the underside of the roof joists before we fix a 12.5mm ceiling which will be plaster skimmed on completion.

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The roof is finished with 18mm OSB roofing boards that are glued and screwed.

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Roof coverings can be finished in fibreglass, asphalt or in one piece of rubber which is the most popular choice for homeowners.

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The roof fasciae and soffits can be finished in any matching colour with a gutter at the back. There are also other options like finishing the visible front or side soffits and fasciae in Cedar. This is aesthetically pleasing however it can add to costs as Cedar is very expensive.

Garden room interior

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We fit all necessary electrical power supplies and lighting in line with your final design. Your garden room will be fitted with a small consumer unit.

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Heating can include small panel wall heaters or underfloor heating. With underfloor heating we fit an insulated underlay with heating on top. The overall thickness of these is 10mm.

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Finished floor options – we normally recommend waterproof LVT which looks and feels like real wood. This flooring is very strong, thin and is available in a vast range of colours and finishes.

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Walls and ceilings can be clad in timber, wall papered, or finish painted in a range of finishes. 

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We work closely with a few AV or AC specialists for those looking for these amenities. 

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We can design and manufacture bespoke cabinetry in a wide range of finishes – be it wood, wood laminate or spray lacquered. Detailed drawings are always provided. 

Client case study

Open Habitat are very pleased to be working on this Garden Room for a young family in Putney SW London.

Our clients were looking to create a home office with enough space for a gym at one end, the office desk area, and a space for a drum kit for their young child. There will also be clear space in the centre for Yoga and a TV on the wall. They wanted a low maintenance building that would be fully guaranteed – while meeting all building regulations.

Open Habitat were selected for the project as we guarantee our buildings for 10 years, although they will last for decades longer. We offer maintenance free high-quality flooring that is water resistant and suitable for underfloor heating.

We pride ourselves on the various design options that we can provide. Every building is bespoke made – no flat packs are ever used. That way we can offer a design to meet our clients specific design and budget requirements.

For this current project, our client has selected a Cedar soffit and facia. While more expensive, this certainly provides an aesthetically pleasing front façade that will complement their existing home and new garden. We always listen carefully to our clients’ needs and then offer all available options so that every small detail has been thought of and planned for. These buildings should be treated with the respect they deserve. They are fully insulated spaces, and every option should be considered to meet your current and future requirements.

Our clients welcomed our attention to detail, and we highlighted many small but equally important points which was one of the reasons that they felt we were a good fit to work with them to create something special.
At Open habitat we take great pride in our passion for delivery high quality products, and we are looking forward to the results once the decking has been installed and a new Pratic retractable awning is fitted on completion.

Please feel free to get in touch if you are looking for inspiration for your new Garden Room or to explore all the outdoor options for you and your property.

Garden room being built in Putney
Garden room being built in Putney