Client Name

Smalley

Location

Amersham

Usage

Garden Office

Specification

3.65m by 3.15m

Comments

"We are very happy with how the room has turned out. The install team was very good in making sure the details were completed to our specification".

Summary

Creating useful additional space within the boundaries of what we have, is something most families aspire to, especially with growing children. This family wanted to make the better use of the bottom of their garden by building more than a single skinned 'summer house', too cold to inhabit even on some summer evenings. Instead they wished to install a Garden Spaces studio that they could use day and night, winter and summer. They had researched our product and arranged a site survey but to seal their choice, they also paid us a visit at the Grand Designs Show in London in May of this year. We do not have the expensive over heads of national show rooms, but exhibiting our studios (Grand designs London and Birmingham and Southampton Boat Show) gives many the opportunity to experience our product first hand and talk to our experts about design, materials and construction.

Details

The beauty of our product is that it is truly bespoke. No two studios are the same and everyone is designed according to the functional needs and aesthetic aspirations of our clients. This studio is unusual in that the cladding is installed horizontally rather than vertically. This gives exceptionally clean lines enhanced by the overhang running the width of the front façade, housing 4 external down lighters. Our clients upgraded from thermowood (standard with our Helix Studios) to western red cedar cladding. Both are kiln dried and secretly fixed with stainless steel pins, the cedar differing in its grain and colour. It can be left to silver or oiled yearly but either way is essentially maintenance free. To complement the cladding our hardwood 'balau' decking was chosen. It is extremely hard wearing with anti-slip properties and a natural resistance to fungal decay and insect attack. This lovely expanse of decking is carefully installed to sit flush with the flooring which allows the internal area to almost double in size on the summer days when the bi-folding doors are swept open. Another important design detail is that our powder coated aluminium frames are RAL colour coded. This allowed our clients to match the colour exactly to the frames of the main house! The photographs show the integral blinds of these bi-folding doors, also available in a wide range of colours. They are a popular choice as they take up no additional space, are completely maintenance and cleaning free and afford precision light control which is particularly important if reading, working at a computer, or watching TV.