UK Log Cabin or similar for garden sim-room/home office

[Skybaba]

I'm in the process of moving to a new house in Milton Keynes, UK.
The house I originally wanted had a detached garage; however, the Mrs preferred another house with an integral garage.........so guess which one we got! :-)

The builder sent me the measurement for the garage height and it's only 8 feet (2.4 metres)!
I'm 5 ft 11 inches, and when I swing my 60 deg wedge in my current house with the ceiling being 7 feet 6 inches (2.28 metres) I hit the ceiling!!

I've considered digging up the garage to get a little bit more height, but the builder has stated that this would invalidate the NHBC new home warranty, which is why I'm now considering an outbuilding in the garden.

Any UK folks done something similar? Could you kindly share your experience especially with the whole planning permission jargon.

Cheers!

[Kmurray]

We are in the final stages of building a Garden Studio in Edinburgh. Initially we were advised that the building would be permitted development as we were sinking the studio into the ground to reduce height impact but after some errors in siting the studio by the builder I got cold feet and got a planning specialist in. He advised to apply for planning anyway as the planning guidelines are only guidelines and that there can be other issues that are not clearly defined. We started the build in December as part of a complete redevelopment of our rear garden but put the studio on hold in January until the planning aspect had been clarified. One of our neighbours objected citing noise but planning does not recognise noise as a material concern . We received the permission in March and started work on the studio build again and hope to have the building completed and ready for sim fit out in a couple of weeks. It will be Skytrak based initially with a 4.5w by 3.0 h enclosure with impact screen at one end and gym at the other also doubling as home cinema.
I will try to attach some pics .

[Sim-dreamer]

1. Kmurray, wow. Gorgeous... I am now re-thinking the exterior of my garden build.
2. Legendsfan, been following your build since I got here, looks amazing! I'm further inspired by both of you guys.
3. To the OP and the original question... perhaps apply for permits for an exercise room, or a hobby room, then insulate the heck out of it so it's somewhat soundproof. Or, dig down early and build a max "no-permit" building over - top so you don't need to limit yourself height wise.
Honestly, just trying to come up with ideas for you, not being there and seeing it, its hard to say for sure.

[Kmurray]

When we applied for the planning permission we were advised to be truthful about the purpose of the studio so our application read something like erection of garden studio gym to include virtual golf facilities.

The reason behind that was that the planners may want to know why the structure had to be so high of it was only going to be a home gym. In hindsight if I was doing it again I would just call it a garden studio home gym. I think that the fact that the application mentioned virtual golf was the reason that sparked the neighbours objection about noise. My wife discussed the objection with them and pointed out that there would be less noise than previously as we had a 3 meter outdoor practise cage in the garden before . They seemed to accept that but still did not withdraw the objection.
When the planning officer visited the site he explained that noise is not a material fact and would not be considered during this particular application. Our studio is super insulated with Kingspan boards in the walls roof and floor , so noise should be limited anyway. We used reflective membrane on the skin of the building and so far it is cool internally when sunny but really quick to warm up when the two thermostatic panel heater are on which will be a boon in winter.

Digging down is a good idea if you can do it to lower the overall impact of the height of the structure but I don't believe it is an actual get out of jail card regarding the permitted development regs.
There are other factors at play that may throw a spanner in the works such as impact on the streetscape etc. I think it is best to get some proper advice. I am glad I did because the last thing you want to do is build something that you may have to take down again or could prevent you selling your property in the future if the building actually turned out to be non compliant for some issue that you were unaware of.
In Scotland you can apply for a Certificate of Lawfulness for your project which I believe would determine if your plans are compliant. If granted happy days , but if it throws up something then you may need planning and building warrant also.

[bubbtubbs]

I suppose it depends on how much you like your neighbours. I'm vindictive so after the complaint was made I'd have probably started idling the lawnmower from 8-9 every night for a few weeks.

[MrDo666]

Hi Skybaba,

I am about to do the same!

Just starting and looking at all the options.

I am hoping to fig down a bit in order to reduce height above ground level although I have found speaking to these garn room companies that the rules are not straight forward with overall height
but its to do with highest and lowest point of a sloped roof and eaves heights etc.

I am in Scotland so it may vary here but the companies are pretty switched on with these things.

Keep us updated and I shall do the same!

Cheers

[MrDo666]

looking great Kmurray!
To save time and money can I just come and use your sim?

[Kmurray]

Hi all,

Mr Do 666 everyone is welcome to come and play for sure. I am certainly looking forward to firing it all up. PC arrived the other day and spent a few hours loading the Golf Club and Fitness Golf and integrating with Skytrak. Our space is doubling as a gym and golf sim/home cinema so there is a lot of stuff to get right.

A slight word of caution regarding the garden room industry which is growing fast, not all advice that they provide regarding planning or building regs is cast in stone, there are general guidelines which these companies happily quote but they are only guidelines and different sites are impacted by different applications of the regulations.
If there are any doubts about key areas such as boundaries or any previous development of the site which can have an impact on what is allowable it is probably best to get unbiased advice to save heartache further down the line.

I have been looking at this forum for some time now and through the help of the people here am now much better informed as to how to proceed. A big thanks to all the contributors here that make the newcomers to golf sims personal projects easier to achieve.

The steel for the enclosure frame has arrived and am now painting prior to sizing. I plan to cut and assemble the tubular enclosure in my driveway and then size the dimensions for the screen and blackout wrap . Projector will be pole mounted from roof of enclosure , have not yet decided on resolution until I get a mock up going as want the best compromise for the screen size related to usage for golf sim/ home theatre/gym use.
Thanks for the interest, I will post more and include pics if anyone is interested.
Regards
Keith

[Marc5180]

Sorry to resurect an old post but What size was your studio KMurray? Also do you have any photos of the finished build?
I’m planning on building g mine imminently and am looking for ideas.
thanks

[Kmurray]

Sorry for delay in responding, have not logged in properly for a while so have not been getting notifications. Studio was 7m x 5m.
Here is a link to my post on completion including images. https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum...burgh-scotland
I have changed it a bit since then, upgraded to GC2/HMT and installed a FiberBuilt mat. The tee turf mat that I started with destroyed my elbows, changed to Fiberbuilt and no further problems.

[gojoholo]

I'm in a similar position to the OP, with a smallish garden. Have applied for planning permission for a 4.85 x 3.95 m cabin with 3.4m nearly flat roof (gives a minimum clearance over 3m internally). At that width I'll have to have the strike mat offset. My original plan was for a larger cabin, but "pre planning advice" suggested that it would be turned down due to lack of remaining garden space and visual impact on the neighbours.