A garden office is not a shed with a laptop in it. Done properly, it's an insulated, wired, acoustically-separated workplace at the end of the garden — one that lets you close a door and actually be done for the day. Done badly, it's a summerhouse that ends up storing bikes by January.
Start with the role you're really doing
The size and spec of a garden office should be set by what you spend your days doing, not by which model catches your eye. A quick guide:
- Solo desk work: 3.0 × 2.4 m is comfortable — room for a full-depth desk, dual monitors and a filing pedestal.
- Client-facing: 4.0 × 3.0 m minimum — you need at least a small sofa or meeting corner.
- Two-person / team: 4.5 × 3.5 m or wider — two full desks with proper separation, not two desks squashed against a wall.
- Full home HQ: 5.0 × 3.5 m plus — desks, meeting area, kitchenette and storage.
Broadband and connectivity
The single most common regret we hear from buyers of low-spec garden offices: 'the wifi from the house is unreliable, and I can't run a Zoom call'. Every Arden & Oak garden office is routed with CAT6 ethernet from the house as standard, so it runs at the same speed as your indoor router. Full mesh wifi within the space is a single-tick option.
Acoustic separation
142 mm timber-frame walls, insulated roof and acoustic-graded doors mean you can take a client call from a garden office and no one else in the household will hear you. The reverse is also true — you don't hear the kids doing their homework, either.
Heating, cooling and year-round use
A properly insulated timber-frame garden office typically only needs a slim electric radiator to be warm through winter. Summer overheating is prevented by the same insulation stopping the sun from cooking the interior; brise soleil on south-facing glazing helps for exposed sites. Air conditioning is available where you want it but rarely necessary.
The details that matter
- Full external electrics package — sockets, ethernet, USB-C, lighting circuit
- A separate door that opens onto the garden, not through the house
- Enough natural light to work by (rooflights are transformative on north-facing plots)
- Wall structure rated for hanging a proper monitor arm or standing desk mount
- A tea point — a small shelf, a kettle and a mug rack keeps you out of the kitchen at 11am