Meadow Guest Room
- Use
- Guest room with shower room
- Size
- 4 × 5 m
- Location
- Large rural plot
A self-contained place for family to stay: a bed, a shower room and a sheltered timber porch.
Read the Meadow Guest Room case study
Garden guest rooms
Room for guests. Space for everyone.
A comfortable, private place for family and friends to stay, with its own front door and, if you like, its own shower room.
Why it works
Close enough for breakfast. Separate enough for everyone to sleep.
- 01
Their own front door
Guests come and go without tiptoeing past anyone's bedroom. So do you.
- 02
A proper night's sleep
Insulated, heated and quiet, with blackout blinds and windows that open.
- 03
A shower room, if you'd like one
Shower, basin and WC, connected to the house's water and drainage where the site allows.
- 04
Useful the other fifty weeks
Design it well and the guest room is a study, a reading room or a teenager's retreat for the rest of the year.
Before we draw anything
A room for sleeping is a different conversation.
A room people sleep in is usually treated differently by planning and building control from a garden office or gym. A shower room adds water and drainage to the picture.
None of that is a reason not to do it. It's a reason to raise it first. Tell us the room is for guests and we'll explain what applies to your property and advise you on the next steps, before you've committed to anything.
Layouts
A bedroom, or a suite.
Drawn to the same scale. The larger plan adds a shower room and somewhere to sit.
Guest bedroom
3 × 4 mA double bed, a wardrobe and a chair by the window.
Guest suite
4 × 5 mA bedroom, a shower room and a place to sit with the doors open.
Specified for staying
Comfortable at three in the morning, in February.
- Heating
- Thermostatic electric heating, or air conditioning that heats and cools
- Hot water
- Compact electric water heater for the shower room
- Shower room
- Subject to water and drainage routes, assessed on site
- Ventilation
- Opening windows, with an extract fan in the shower room
- Privacy
- Glazing positioned away from the house and neighbours
- Approvals
- Planning and building-control position advised at the outset
Projects
A guest room, from brief to handover.
Questions
Guest rooms, answered.
Do I need planning permission for a garden guest room?
A room people sleep in is usually treated differently by planning and building control from a garden office or gym. Requirements depend on the property, the building and how it will be used, and they differ between the UK and Greece. Tell us at the start that the room is for guests and we will advise you on the next steps.
Can a garden guest room have a bathroom?
Yes. A shower room needs water and drainage connections, so its feasibility and cost depend on the distance and the levels between the room and the house. We assess this in person and price it clearly.
How big should a guest room be?
3 × 4 m takes a double bed and a wardrobe comfortably. With a shower room, 4 × 5 m gives everything space to breathe.
Is it warm enough to sleep in during winter?
Yes. The room is insulated and heated to the same standard as everything we build, with a compact electric water heater for the shower room where there is one.
Can someone live in it permanently?
A building used as a separate, self-contained home is a different matter from occasional guest accommodation and normally needs specific consent. We can advise you on the next steps.
Start with a conversation.
Guest rooms have more moving parts than most. Tell us about your garden and who'll be staying, and we'll tell you what's possible.