The client wanted to create a custom-made garden apartment or 'granny flat', with the option to use it for guests sleeping over or family members visiting from abroad.

The designated area for this garden apartment was part of the side passage and back garden.

• Since the side-passage area was limited in size (2.1m wide), we used it for a hallway, bathroom with washing basin, toilet and shower, and small bedroom, and built the kitchen/sitting room in the garden area.
• We carried out the groundwork, got the utilities connected and laid down a concrete foundation.
• We installed timberframe walls with OSB smart plywood, breathable membrane, insulated cavity, cladding-board exterior finish and skimmed plasterboard finish.

• The one-slope roof was installed next, made of timberframe, OSB smart plywood, breathable membrane and corrugated steel exterior finish. For the interior ceiling, we used 100mm Rockwool insulation with plasterboard and skim finish.
• For the bedroom, we used timber batons and 70mm Kingspan cavity insulation, with 18mm plywood and laminate floor.
• We laid ceramic tiles on the kitchen/sitting and shower-room floors, and also installed ceramic tiles on the shower-room walls.
• We installed a double-glazed PVC front door and two windows, and timber frames with architrave and door panels for access to the bedroom and shower-room.
• Next, all the electric fittings; a fuse box; LED recessed lighting for the kitchen/sitting room, bedroom and shower-room; low and high-level sockets in the bedroom and kitchen/sitting-room; high-efficiency electric radiators in both rooms, and a fan wall radiator in the shower-room.
• Finally, in the shower-room, we installed a shower tray with glass door, a washing-basin unit with storage, a toilet, and an extractor fan with timer switch (to minimize condensation). Under the kitchen worktop, we fitted a 50L thermostat electric boiler to provide the unit with hot water.