Garden Rooms – SIPS Garden Rooms
Garden rooms designed & installed by industry experienced professionals
SIPS gardenrooms is a customer focused property development, design and build business, born out of the increasing need to support a better work-life balance, through creating, designing and building long-lasting, sturdy, eco-friendly, light and open spaces to play and work, at home.
We have designed, built and installed a broad and diverse range of garden studios and multi-purpose rooms for either residential or business use, nationwide.
Our Products
We offer a complete and bespoke turn-key solution which incorporates elements such as feasibility, design & planning services, building regulations, eco-options, ground works, electrics, glazing, floors & doors, lighting, finishes, decking and landscaping.
Use our full service…
Our Associate, in-house Architect and Design Consultant, will work with you to produce a design that meets your needs and budget, this can also include producing and submitting your planning application.
… or just what you need
Equally, we can provide Consultancy and Project Management services and work with you, your own Architect and/or selected suppliers and tradesmen, giving you the benefit of our experience and expertise – all this is taken into account, in the early stages, when we discuss your requirements and prepare a quotation.
Popular Designs
Cube or Pod
Call it what you like – it’s square!
A simple, compact and practical (typically) one-person work or chill-out space, offering a clean, cost-effective and contemporary design and usually exempt from planning permission. Ideal if space is at a premium. Can be made bigger!
Rectangle
An extension of the Square (!), offering additional space to accommodate more people or just more of your stuff.
It may also be more appropriate to your site, maximising the space available.
L-Shape (left or right)
A combination of the above two designs really!
U-Shape
Ok, visualise 2 L-shapes (left and right) pushed together, 2 L-Shapes with a Square in the middle or 2 Rectangles with a Square in the middle or…you get our drift (we hope)!
This style has the added benefit of a protected ‘inner’ space, like a small courtyard, which can be used for outdoor entertaining for example; it’s a great design for a granny annexe, extra accommodation and living space and often includes bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms.
Roof, Walls, Floors & Interiors
As your buildings are intended to be used all year round, they need to be as thermally efficient as possible, even in extreme weather. As a result, we use SIPS (roof, walls and floors).
Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), from which we have derived part of our name, are a modern composite building material; they are one of the most advanced building systems currently on the market. They exceed building regulations, are incredibly strong, insulating and cost-effective as well as environmentally friendly; they also enable fast build time frames, generally not possible with traditional building methods.
SIPs combine several components of traditional building, such as studs and joists, insulation, vapour and air barrier. They can be used for many different applications such as wall, roof, floor and foundation systems.
Our SIPS panel supplier is one of the major UK SIPS manufacturers; they are able to manufacture panels to virtually any specification, from small garden rooms to complete houses and commercial developments, like classrooms and offices. We work very closely with our supplier and, for the larger bespoke requirements, integrate their specialist knowledge throughout the build, from pre-build site inspection to the final sign off by the building inspector. Our consultative, turn-key process includes liaising with all other on and off site professionals – the design consultant, the architect, the engineer, the project manager and local authority Planning and Building Control to name a few – this ensures a smooth building process from start to finish.
Our buildings are also fitted, as standard, with solid, engineered oak flooring (and skirting), internal plaster board, which is skim plastered and painted with white emulsion – unless you require otherwise; we would discuss this with you during the early stages of Our Process. We can tailor the finish to suit your particular requirements and also install the internal ironmongery and floor coverings of your choice.
Key points:
125-175mm SIPs (can go up to 225mm)
U’ – Value Roof: 0.14 W/M2K
U’ – Value Wall: 0.22 W/M2K
U’ – Value Floor: 0.25 W/M2K
External Western Red Cedar Timber Cladding; sourced from sustainable sources – FSC & PEFC certified
Insulation is 80% recycled
High-performance air-tight construction
Services, Heating & Ventilation
All our builds come supplied and fitted with a comprehensive electrical package, comprising power sockets, lighting and heating.
Dependent on your needs and requirements, we can also supply and install Air-Source heat pumps; these are Class – AA rated, wall-mounted, remote controlled combined air-conditioning / air source heating with condenser unit mounted externally.
Hot water can be provided by instantaneous hot water units which heat water on demand (with significantly lower energy demands than storage units); they also have Thermostatic controls which can prevent scalding.
We supply as standard, a slim line, wall-mounted – timer and thermostatically controlled – convector heater however there are numerous heating options available.
Lighting & Electrical
Included in our builds is the provision of a new electricity supply via a consumer unit, fitted at a high level to avoid tampering; the wiring is concealed out of view.
In addition to the consumer unit we will install 4 x 13amp double sockets (dependent on the size of the building and your requirements), a wall mounted (timer and thermostatically controlled) slim line convector heater and lighting tacks complete with ceiling mounted down-lights and external recessed ultra-low watt soffit lights over decked areas.
The sockets, heater and lights are all supplied in a brushed stainless steel finish; remember however that we can fit your choice of lighting, heating, ironmongery and sanitary ware.
Windows & Doors
We use quality hardwood, uPVC and powder coated aluminium frames in our garden buildings.
For glazing, as standard, we use Pilkington K. We offer a wide range of window and door configurations, including sliding and folding doors. There are numerous window and door combinations to choose from; we can incorporate virtually any into the design, including for wheelchair access. In addition, further glass options include laminated, opaque, fire rated or acoustic glazing as well as integrated blinds which sit inside the glazing units and provide a seamless finish (and come in a variety of different colours).
In addition, all windows and doors have high security locks as standard, giving you both security and peace of mind.
Key points:
Draught-sealed, treated hardwood
Durable clear coat’ screens from sustainable sources made by specialist manufacturer fitted with high performance units with double glazed coated low-emissivity
(Low-E) glass with min 16mm cavity
Optional Argon cavity fill available for improved thermal performance
Glazing (where necessary) has manifestation to limit the incidence of collision and is toughened
Doors finger hinge protection to prevent finger trapping
Doors feature relevant fire safety instruction
Low thresholds to entrance doors permitting easy access
Cladding & Decking
All our rooms are fitted with Western Red Cedar tongue and groove external cladding as standard; it can also be used for building overhangs or decking, as an optional extra.
This desirable softwood is superior to all other coniferous woods; it is highly resistant to shrinking, warping, decay and insect attack, the latter due to naturally occurring fungicidal acids in the wood. Western Red Cedar is a versatile, adaptable and attractive species of timber, well suited for external timber cladding and roof shingles. The rich and warm brown, red, gold and pink colours add individuality to each build; it slowly silvers over time and is incredibly low maintenance.
The conduction of heat in wood is directly related to its density; woods with low density have the highest thermal insulating value because such woods contain a high proportion of cell cavities. Western Red Cedar, with its low density and high proportion of air spaces, makes it the best thermal insulator among the commonly available softwoods, far superior to brick, concrete and steel.
In addition, an important acoustic property of wood is its ability to dampen vibrations. Western Red Cedar is particularly effective in this regard.
We can also supply and fit other types of cladding and decking, dependent on your requirements.
Do I need Planning Permission?
In the majority of cases planning permission is not required for a SIPS gardenroom, as they generally fall within ‘permitted development’. There are, however, limits and conditions which must be followed and in some circumstances you will need to apply for planning permission. We can assist you through this process and with Building Regulations.
To familiarise yourself, we would recommend you visit the government’s Planning Portal website – it contains the latest information about planning and building regulations and the process for making (or appealing) a planning application.
