Health-conscious homeowners and those with a penchant for wellness can benefit tremendously with the addition of a well-planned garden room functioning as a home gym. These home additions have made life exponentially easier for those who love to exercise.
But have you considered adding a garden room AND a swimming pool?
This combination can take healthy living and exercise to a whole new level. If you’re a homeowner looking to maximise your outdoor space while creating some bespoke exercise facilities that you can use all year round, this powerful pairing can represent one of the best investments you can make in your home.
Firstly, Do You Need Planning Permission?
Before you begin this exciting home improvement project, it’s always wise to familiarise yourself with UK garden room building regulations and local authority planning permission laws.
Whilst most garden rooms fall under permitted development rights, some planning permission requirements apply, depending on the extent of the work you are considering carrying out, and your property’s specifics. With decades of home improvement experience, Kingdom Rooms recognises that planning permission compliance isn’t always easy for homeowners, and we can guide you through the process seamlessly. We want to ensure you end up with a wellness sanctuary that fits your lifestyle and budgets, with as few complications as possible.
The same diligence applies when considering the installation of a pool in your garden. As swimming pool experts Compass Pools note: “You usually don’t have to [obtain planning permission], especially if there is no change of use required in the land, but the rules can be fairly complex. We would recommend contacting your local council to double check. There are many different rules and regulations so it’s important to make doubly sure before you get started with your installation.“
It’s worth noting that while the responsibility rests with the homeowner, a professional pool installer will often help assess whether permission is needed or manage the application process on your behalf.
Planning Permission Problems?
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Physical Health Benefits of a Garden Room and Pool Duo
Combining a garden room, for example a home gym or fitness studio, with a purpose-built swimming pool, gives you a wealth of exercise options. Swimming is one of the most low-impact workouts you can do regularly but yet still provides cardiovascular fitness and exercise that engages every muscle group. It’s one of the best all-round exercises you can do regularly, particularly when you’re managing injuries or health conditions.
Your garden room can be used for essential anaerobic exercise equipment, from cable machines and free weights to barbells and yoga mats, all of which can complement regular swimming. The option of doing an intense workout before running a few laps in your own pool can provide you with a varied and interesting workout routine that promotes long-term heart health. The NHS advises that all adults complete 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity every week, which is made infinitely easier with your own facilities.
Mental Health and Wellbeing Benefits
The mental health benefits of having your own personal swimming pool and garden exercise room are unparalleled. Water therapy has been touted as a significant stress, anxiety and depression reducer, with the rhythmic nature of swimming releasing endorphins while buoyancy provides a form of meditation. The garden room is the perfect complement to this, offering privacy to either unwind after a swim or power through a workout before you hit the pool.
Insights from Mind, the mental health charity, suggests that regular physical activity can be as effective as antidepressants for treating mild to moderate depression. Having access to both aerobic and anaerobic exercise options gives you a better chance of maintaining a sense of routine, a training regime, and more, which can boost your mood dramatically on a daily level.
Further Beneficial Considerations
Beyond the immediate health gains, a garden room and pool combination offers compelling practical and financial advantages for your home. Optimising the dual benefits can help maximise your investment and property appeal.
Year-round usage
The UK has unpredictable weather at the best of times, but it becomes less of a factor when you have a heated, insulated and ventilated garden exercise room as well as a well-maintained pool. When the weather gets cooler, the home gym can be a warm changing area and provide a dry and comfortable exercise space. While it’s unlikely that an outdoor pool will be used extensively during the winter months, indoor pools can also provide year-round, heated and ventilated comfort.
Improved property value and versatility
The combination of a premium garden room and swimming pool can be a tremendously lucrative home improvement. Well-designed pools can add, on average, around 10% to a home’s value. A premium garden room can also add a considerable amount, particularly if it can be easily reconfigured or adjusted, so discerning buyers can turn it into something that works best for their lifestyle.
The key is in designing a multi-functional space, and the addition of our new Snugz building is the perfect opportunity to make this reality. With its highly insulated, unique beach hut feel, the Snugz can serve not only as a gym and changing area but also as a home office, leisure room, or designated hobby space.
With further developments in progress there will also be the option to install a lifting bed that combines with a fold down-desk, allowing a professional workspace to easily transform into a weekend guest bedroom. This kind of flexibility with the space ensures your investment is future-proofed.
Setting Up Your Garden Room
To ensure you end up with a top-quality garden room, the best strategy is to plan well. Consider the placement of both your garden room and pool to allow easy access while maintaining privacy. Additionally, consider the following features:
Foundational Efficiency
Where buildings fall outside of building regulations, it’s often possible to avoid using traditional concrete bases. Innovative methods like ground screws are growing in popularity, given they avoid the damage often caused to gardens by heavy machinery and harmful chemicals such as lime in concrete. They also offer the benefit of quicker build times and usually lower costs.
Comfort and Climate Control
Given windows and doors can allow significant heat ingress from direct sunlight, the orientation of your building needs careful consideration, to ensure the space remains comfortable throughout its use. Installing internal blinds subtly set between the glazing panes can effectively deflect heat, similar to the external timber window blinds seen in hot European homes. They also provide a crucial level of privacy, an important point if your garden room doubles as a pool changing area.
Wellness Additions
Elevating your wellness sanctuary to another level can offer further specialist additions:
Saunas
A super addition to complement your pool set up, modern saunas now come in easy-to-install pods. We recommend opting for an infra-red electric version, which offers both low running costs and warm-up times, and avoids the damage that can be caused by the humidity that traditional saunas can inflict on a timber building.
Shower facilities
All washing areas require adequate ventilation to prevent condensation, together with waterproof surfaces and suitable drainage. For showers and toilets, especially when building away from the main house, consider using off-grid appliances for a simpler installation process. We’ve recently explored this option with our bespoke designs, including a recent order for a family-sized Snugz building that will include a raised mezzanine for a bed with a toilet beneath.
With Kingdom Rooms’ expertise and commitment to quality home improvements, you can create a personal wellness sanctuary that serves you for decades to come. Whether you opt for a sleek, modern fitness environment or choose to lean into a specific theme—like the beach hut vibes offered by our new ‘Snugz’ building now on show at our Reading show site—we can help you create a bespoke outdoor space. Your future self will thank you for making this investment in your property, and your health and wellbeing.
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We appreciate there can be a lot to think about when extending your home, whether it be a conservatory or garden building.
We’ve been supporting people improve their homes for over 40 Years so we’re confident we can provide the right advice for you
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