Your Garden Escape
For Work, Pleasure Or Play
Sarah Varley speaks to Croft Pods director Samuel Hill about the exciting new addition to the Croft Group, offering a luxury, bespoke home office or studio in your garden. Photography: Paul Currie
Samuel Hill is the sixth generation to join the Croft family business, which dates back to 1874, now launching Croft Pods to offer bespoke garden buildings. He was inspired to launch Croft Pods after experiencing all the benefits of a separate home office while completing his dissertation during lockdown.
Samuel, tell us about Croft Pods?
We offer completely bespoke, customisable garden pods to provide the perfect extra space to meet your needs. They can be built to any size, with any door options from bi-folding to sliding doors, and for any purpose from home office to beauty parlour. We have the heritage and quality of Croft Complete Homes behind us, which has been providing double-glazed windows, doors, conservatories and orangeries for 25 years. This means we have the same suppliers, fitters and the Croft 10-year guarantee to rely on.
What sort of garden pods are the most popular?
Croft Pods will make fantastic home offices, and that mentality of being able to leave the house and go somewhere you can focus is priceless. During lockdown I felt so lucky to have a home office at the bottom of the garden to retreat to, and with the massive rise in working from home, that would be the most popular pod. It allows you to work from home but in a space away from the kids, the dogs, the chores and any other distractions.
However, our pods are extremely versatile and we have found demand for garden pods to fulfil many roles. One customer wanted a pod as a library to sit and read in total peace surrounded by their books. Another family wanted a pod as a music room, where they could go and practice their musical instruments and listen to music. We have also had an enquiry for a pool room-style pod with a jacuzzi.
We have found there’s a real demand for garden pods as commercial office space or business premises, providing a base for small teams to work in and to meet clients, particularly for start-ups in the tech industry, or as treatment rooms for the health and beauty industry. It can prove much more cost-effective than renting a space and of course the commute is unbeatable!
What sort of garden space do I need?
We are able to offer completely bespoke, customisable pods in whatever size you need, down to the exact millimetre, to fit into any space. Our ‘screw pile’ foundation system means that your pod can be fitted almost anywhere, including sloping gardens and even hillsides, without the need for digging out or a concrete base. This means there is no permanent damage to the existing environment and should you move house in the future, your pod can be removed and relocated as easily as it went in. We can also offer a garden design service to help ensure your pod fits beautifully into your garden landscape.
What eco-credentials do Croft Pods have?
We are proud that most of our materials are recycled and the windows are all A+ rated for energy efficiency. The screw pile system is more environmentally friendly than a concrete base. We can also incorporate biodiverse design features such as sedum or wildflower living roof systems and living walls which are both beautiful and great for the environment.
What is the process for designing a bespoke Croft Pod?
Our design team has put together five initial designs to get you started so you can choose the style you like best and then tailor it to the size and view you want and how you will use your pod. We can build a to-scale CAD model of your perfect pod and superimpose it on your garden to bring your vision to life.
Croft Pods has all the social distancing safety measures in place for the showroom and for home visits. Get in touch for a free quotation so they can get designing your dream pod!
Croft Complete Homes Ltd
6 Pittman Court
Pittman Way, Preston PR2 9ZG
01772 703777
sales@croftgardenbuildings.co.uk
croftgardenbuildings.co.uk
