🏠 build · 2026 · UK Permitted Development

A garden office
that stays legal.

A 4.2 m × 2.8 m timber-frame office on an existing slab, designed end-to-end under UK Permitted Development Class E. Every dimension drives the BOM automatically — change a spec, the quantities recalculate.

The brief

Work-from-home primary use, occasional guest sofa-bed, option to add a small WC and underfloor heating later. Three close boundaries, so the design has to stay under the 2.5 m total height limit and well under the 15 m² fire-separation threshold.

  • 4.2 × 2.8 m external
  • 9.56 m² internal
  • ≤ 2.5 m total height
  • 2000 mm stud walls
  • EPDM flat roof
  • Slab re-use
ForDeanna's new house
Foundationexisting concrete slab (re-used)
Structuretimber stud, breathable membrane, larch cladding
Roofwarm-deck flat, EPDM
Statusdesign + BOM done · ordering imminent
▼ Reproducible by anyone

The spec is a spreadsheet.

Open it, change the size, and the BOM recalculates. If I can replicate this, you can replicate this.

spec

design.md

Plain-English design document. Dimensions, planning rules, material choices, the things that drive every other number.

spec

bom.xlsx

Live bill of materials. Quantities and prices fed from supplier pages, sortable by trade.

spec

cut-list.md

Per-piece cut list ready for the timber yard. Removes the "how many 2.4 m lengths do I need" mental maths.

The build will be filmed.

From slab prep through first light. Permitted Development DIY in real time.

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