Project Details
Project Summary
- Garden Pod, created offsite and constructed onsite
- Picturesque woodland setting
- Floor area 38m2
- Underfloor heating throughout
- Western Red Cedar finish externally
- Demolition and removal of existing outbuilding
- All groundworks, foundations and drainage
- Aluminium windows and doors, including bespoke bi-fold doors onto decking area
The Challenge: Creating a garden pod for a woodland site
On an estate in Hawick, Roxburghshire, the client wanted to build a garden pod equipped with all services to provide additional leisure space, making the most of an attractive woodland setting with lake views.
“Modular garden pods provide fast, easy and cost effective solutions to add space for work or leisure. At Enviro Building Solutions, we undertake initial planning surveys and work closely with property owners to create the perfect pods, complete with electrics and plumbing, achieving high quality finishes reflecting individual design preferences.”
Making the most of the site
The building was designed to incorporate a decking area accessed by bi-fold doors to make the most of the views and the rural environment.
Challenges included devising a modular building where the sections could be manually transported to the desired location because of the lack of formal access to the site.
The resultant building sits discreetly 150 metres from the main house, providing an attractive and practical addition to the existing living space.
Designing for access
The optimum site selected for positioning the pod was located within the grounds and gardens of the main house. There was no natural vehicular access for delivery of the building sections, with the site some 100 metres from the best unloading point.
The woodland setting presented significant access issues, which influenced the design of the pod. Enviro Building Solutions devised a modular system where the individual panels were sized for transportation by hand to the chosen spot, and ‘walked’ into place before construction began.
Practicality and innovation
The team from Enviro Building Solutions began by dismantling and removing an existing outbuilding to make space for the new garden room.
Mains electricity was brought by cable through a trench to the site, and the plumbing design included a cassette toilet facility equipped with a macerator to avoid the cost and disruption of installing mains drainage.
This was a totally bespoke build as specified by the client, including elegant Western Red Cedar cladding to the externals and additional elements such as underfloor heating throughout.
A beautifully reclaimed timber floor created such an excellent effect that the client decided to use this for internal cladding too, creating a delightfully rustic effect.
Especially cold weather experienced at the time of the build presented additional challenges, but the project was completed successfully on time and to budget.
