Garden Gym and Office
With a growing family, Zac and Jen Clayton’s home office was set to become a nursery but working from home was still essential. A small garden office would have met their immediate needs, but they opted for a larger garden room with a home gym, creating a versatile space for work, fitness, and family life. They considered a house extension but found it would be costly, time-consuming, and disruptive, so they chose a bespoke garden room from Cosy Garden Rooms — a modern, comfortable, and low-maintenance solution tailored to their style, delivered quickly and with minimal disruption.
With a baby on the way, Zac and Jen Clayton needed more space. The room they had been using as a home office was soon to become a nursery, but they still needed a quiet, functional workspace. Although a smaller garden room would have been enough for an office, they decided to go bigger to add a home gym, making the space more versatile for family life.
They considered building an extension but found it would be costly and the process; from planning to the build itself—would take a long time. After researching their options, they chose a garden room from Cosy Garden Rooms, gaining the space they needed much more quickly, with less disruption and at a lower cost.
Project overview
• Client – Jen & Zac Clayton, Nottingham
• Product – Bespoke, Slatted Composite Oak Clad Garden Office and Gym
• Budget – £32,000
• Build Time – 7 days
Services provided
• Design
• Concrete Base for Garden Room and Shed
• Build
• Electrics
• Flooring and Internal Decoration
• Underfloor Heating
The finished project
The Claytons’ garden room is 5.2m x 3.0m, a total internal area of 15.6m². It has a higher internal ceiling height of 2.35m, which offers enough headroom for workouts while maintaining a spacious feel.
Before starting the garden room build, we created a new 3m x 2m base to re-site an existing shed that was originally in the space that the garden room was going to go. We then added the concrete base for the garden room itself.
The garden room is clad in a maintenance free, vertical natural oak composite cladding on the front and left side, with grey Hardie cladding on the back and right sides. The sides aren’t seen as much so it made sense to use a more economical product on these areas compared to the slatted cladding.
A 600mm overhang on the front and side creates a stylish ‘picture frame’ effect, complemented by anthracite UPVC doors and windows to give a contemporary finish.
Inside, the room features white grooved walls, a plain board ceiling, dark chestnut laminate flooring and dimmable spotlights. We also added a network point and underfloor heating. Externally, there are up-down lights and spotlights.
The building has windows on three sides, giving panoramic views of the garden.
"We ended up with exactly what we wanted. We use the space all the time and its really added something to the property."
“We are really happy with everything – the design, the process, the cost, the team on site were brilliant, we ended up with exactly what we wanted. We use the space all the time, and it’s really added something to the property.”
