Garden Guide To Outdoor Rooms

Date Published:

09/06/2008

Planning for your outdoor room...

Where In The Garden?

Before you get too excited, be honest with yourself. Do you have space for an outdoor room? Perhaps you have just enough, but will it take up most of your lawn? If this is the case it might not be worth it: remember that gardens are a big selling point!

Ultimately, it's up to you, and if it's not a permanent structure you can always remove it at a later date, although how easy this will be depends on where you put it. A lot of people choose to install an outdoor room right at the bottom of the garden, but just remember that if it's positioned too near a road, you may have to apply for planning permission.

If you decide to put it in the middle of the garden, it should be accompanied by some complementary landscaping, otherwise it might look like it's just been plonked there, and the structure itself has to look good because it will be the first thing you see when stepping outside.

If you choose a shaded spot, remember that it will get cold and therefore some form of heating is a must, not to mention good lighting to make up for the lack of natural light.

This garden room looks like something out of Space Odyssey. It's glazed with EC SmartGlass, which can change from clear to almost black in less than five minutes - improving glare reduction and UV protection, which is important when you have such a heavily glazed space. From £27,000, Bartholomew Conservatories.

Planning Permission

The average outdoor room will not require planning permission. This is providing that it is located at least five metres from your house, and it is not taller than four metres if it has a ridged roof, or three metres without. It must also be at least 15 metres away from the nearest road. If you live in a listed building or conservation area, you may well have to apply for planning permission and it will have to be designed in keeping with your property and others in the area.

Using this new space as a home office shouldn't be a problem as long as you're not running a business from it, or employing other people to work in there with you. But, as always, you should check you are following the rules. Take a look at www.homeworking.com for advice on working from home and see Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website for more information on planning issues.

Low-maintenance, and with a high-thermal performance, this grass roof will help to satisfy those building regs. But, the roof isn't the only thing an EcoSpace studio has going for it (and if you don't like the grass there is an alternative version in single ply). It also has giant sliding doors and warm cedar cladding. From £18,623.