We were contacted by our clients for this project as they had several other companies out to provide a price for the garden office and gym but had no success in obtaining a price. We can only assume this was due to the existing decking above, restricted access and the amount of excavation and groundwork that was involved before any construction could take place! We were provided with a list of must haves for the space but the rest our clients left to us, It had to have plenty of natural light. It had to have enough space to house a desk, various storage, and our client’s gym equipment. It had to have enough head room for our client to work out and being 6ft 5 this was a MUST! It had to have grey cladding and Corten steel as a feature. And lastly- It had to be well insulated as our client is always cold! Measurements were taken and a simple plan was presented to our clients while on site. Our first task was creating enough space along the side of the property which was the only access. This involved removing the gate, dismantling a storage shed and moving various plants, shrubs, and trees.

On the steps to the rear of the property we constructed a ramp using scaffolding boards and ply in order for us to safely get plant machinery and construction materials in and excavated materials out. To gain sufficient head room, we excavated around 65 ton of material which, due to the restricted access had to taken out using wheelbarrows! All excavation completed and it was time for concrete, again due to access this was brought in using wheelbarrows. We laid a 100mm reinforced concrete slab. Next was the timber frame. We opted for 4×2 timber frame to give our clients the most usable floor space as possible. We insulated using a mix of ridged and a space blanket insulation in order to provided maximum insulation while not taking away any valuable floor space. Due to the restricted space between the roof and the underside of the decking we opted to install an EPDM rubber roof.

With the frame, insulation, roof and 1st fix electrics complete we moved on to plaster boarding and
plastering. As standard we used 12.5mm boards and completed the plastering with 2 coats of gypsum plaster. Next came the installation of windows and patio doors in Anthracite grey to make the structure watertight. We left our clients carry out the internal finishes such as – decoration and floor covering and we moved on to the cladding, we installed PVCu shiplap cladding, again in anthracite grey to match the windows and patio door. The final exterior element was a sheet of Corten steel that our clients requested be cut to clad the block work pillar holding up the corner of the existing decking. It was a contrast to the anthracite grey cladding and finished off the building quite well. All that was left for us to do was a thorough clean and tidy of all interior and exterior surfaces, dismantle our access ramp, rehang the gate and replace plants, shrubs etc.

Our clients were totally thrilled with the finished building and have since sold the property and achieved
over the asking price due to the garden building.