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Bar, gym or office: what your customers want from a garden room

Garden rooms are one of the fastest-growing build categories in UK home improvement, expanding at 11% annually. Driven by hybrid working and the "improve-not-move" trend, a high-quality installation can boost a garden room value return by 5–15%. Summer is peak season, and clients want specific functional spaces. However, poor insulation or underspecified electrics can turn a premium outbuilding into a liability. Success lies in mastering the exact specs for the three most requested uses: offices, gyms, and bars.

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The garden office: year-round productivity

With 28% of UK working adults hybrid working, demand for a dedicated home office remains a permanent structural market. Remote workers require an acoustically isolated, comfortable environment that feels like a professional workspace rather than a shed.

Achieving this standard requires structural C16 or C24 graded timber framing and rigid foam board or mineral wool insulation between the studs. Protect the build with a vapour barrier, finish the exterior with weather-resistant shiplap timber cladding, and use smooth V-jointed timber cladding internally. Remind clients that single-storey builds under 2.5m usually fall under Permitted Development Rights to speed up quote sign-offs.

Trade opportunity: installing a dedicated consumer unit, multiple double sockets, USB ports, and hardwired data connections to prevent system overload.

Wickes products for the job: graded structural timber, rigid board insulation, treated shiplap exterior cladding, and internal timber wall panels.

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The garden gym: high-load performance

Driven by rising commercial gym fees, home fitness spaces are growing rapidly. To deliver a successful garden gym fit out brief, the construction must safely accommodate structural load limits, high impact, and moisture control.

The floor platform must withstand heavy equipment weight. Lay structural OSB or moisture-resistant flooring panels over a solid foundation, topped with impact-absorbing rubber matting. Because workouts generate significant humidity, install passive ventilation or mechanical extraction to prevent condensation and mould. Use rigid board insulation in the walls to maintain comfortable year-round temperatures while keeping wall surfaces flat for mounting mirrors.

Trade opportunity: cross-selling a connecting timber or composite deck platform for outdoor training, and scoping dedicated high-draw electrical circuits for treadmills or saunas.

**Wickes products for the job: floor kits, structural OSB, moisture-resistant flooring panels, high-density insulation, and exterior decking.

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The garden bar: high-finish entertainment

The garden bar fit out is a finish-sensitive brief. Clients want a premium social space that mirrors a commercial venue, meaning the quality of the internal fit-out directly drives future word-of-mouth referrals.

The exterior should feature premium treated shiplap or contemporary low-maintenance composite cladding. Inside, specify luxury vinyl tile (LVT) flooring to handle spills, along with durable solid timber worktops. For higher budgets, a tiled splashback adds a luxury finish. The electrical layout requires smart circuit planning for ambient feature lighting, under-shelf LED strips, and multiple bar fridges.

Trade opportunity: expanding the project scale by building an integrated timber or composite terrace outside the bar doors to create an outdoor social hub.

Wickes products for the job: uPVC cladding, luxury vinyl flooring (LVT), solid worktops, ceramic wall tiles, and timber or composite decking boards.

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Garden room opportunities this summer

Garden rooms are now a primary project category with rising trade budgets. The most profitable summer jobs will go to trade professionals who can take a client's basic concept and specify the exact build standards required for the space.

Plan your structural timber, insulation, cladding, flooring, and decking supply at Wickes now to turn high-value summer enquiries into signed contracts.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need planning permission for a garden room?

Most garden rooms fall under Permitted Development Rights and don’t require a planning application, provided the structure is single-storey, no higher than 2.5m at the eaves (4m for a dual-pitched roof), doesn’t cover more than 50% of the garden area, and isn’t used as a primary living space. Always confirm with the local planning authority for properties in conservation areas, listed buildings or Article 4 direction zones.

What is Bento Zoning and how does it apply to garden room projects?

Bento Zoning is a 2026 garden design trend, named after the Japanese lunchbox concept, that describes dividing outdoor space into distinct functional zones, each with a clear purpose. Applied to garden room projects, it’s a planning framework for thinking about how the room relates to the rest of the garden: the connecting deck, the path from the house, the dining or relaxing zone. Introducing it at the brief stage helps customers plan their full outdoor space, which typically increases the scope of the project and strengthens the customer relationship.

What is the most important specification difference between a garden office and a garden gym?

Flooring load capacity and ventilation. A garden gym requires a subfloor specified for the weight of equipment, not a standard light-use platform, and active ventilation to manage heat and moisture generated during exercise. Both are commonly underspecified and both generate complaints post-build. Insulation requirements are the same as a garden office: full coverage to walls, floor and roof for year-round use.

How much does a garden room add to property value?

A well-built, clearly functional garden room typically adds 5–15% to property value, according to UK estate agent data. The uplift depends heavily on build quality, insulation standard and how clearly the room’s function reads to a buyer. Poorly built structures, inadequate insulation and underspecified electrics can actively reduce property value. Quality of build is the determining factor, not the existence of the structure.

What materials do I need to supply a garden room build from Wickes?

A complete garden room build draws from structural timber for the frame, insulation for thermal performance, exterior cladding for the weathertight envelope, interior cladding for the finish, and flooring for the internal surface. The decking range at Wickes covers the exterior terrace that completes most garden room projects.

What connected trades does a garden room project involve?

A typical garden room project involves general builders or carpenters for the structure and fit-out, electricians for the consumer unit, circuits and lighting, and often a decking specialist or landscaper for the connected outdoor zone. The bar use case may also involve a tiler for the feature wall and a plumber if the customer wants a sink. Garden rooms are one of the cleaner multi-trade project types: each trade’s scope is distinct and the project naturally generates referrals across disciplines.