The garden pod is a multi-functional solution to expanding your home, without having to consider extensive building works and everything that goes with them. It provides the perfect accommodation solution if you have elderly relatives you want to have close by, but do not have the existing space for them in your home.
Alternatively, the garden pod opens up opportunities for homeworking, as separate office space. It could be a recreational space for your kids, or somewhere for you to go to spend some much-needed me-time.
It marks a significant step-up from the traditional garden summer-house, being modular and contemporary in design, with expert finishing, so you feel like you are in a substantial, self-contained space.
Life in a garden pod is about knowing your surroundings and location absolutely fit in with your desired lifestyle and your specific needs.
A Way to Tackle Isolation
As self-contained annexe, a garden pod contains all the amenities of a conventional building, including its own bathroom and kitchen facilities. It provides a complete living solution, offering independence alongside reassurance.
Why is the garden pod reassuring?
Because, although it provides an independent living solution, it is close to home, usually located in the garden of a house.
This addresses two key issues many elderly people face: that they feel isolated; and that they are worried about their personal security.
Being situated in the garden, which will already be a familiar location, can help create a sense of security. Its closeness to the family home means that other people are easily contactable and nearby.
Age UK reports that in later life many people find their lives defined by loneliness and a sense of increasing isolation. The garden pod is an ideal way of helping someone elderly overcome these feelings.
Life in a garden pod can be independent, but social.
An Adaptable Space
Although the garden pod is modular in design and construction, this does not mean it is a case of one size fits all. It is not simply a functional space, like an upgraded garden shed.
The modern annexe is fully adaptable to the needs of its residents.
This adaptability might involve mobility aids such as ramps or grab rails, but it can also be about adding other features, which give the individual garden pod its character.
Custom design and build options include interior and exterior elements, and make self-contained annexes suitable for a range of garden settings, including conservation areas.
According to taste, customisation can make a garden pod feel more like a cosy cottage, or streamline it to create a more modern, functional environment. It is all about what the individual needs will be, and how to make sure the annexe meets these, and fits in with its intended location.
A Perfect Sense of Place
Gardens come in all shapes and sizes, but then the garden pod is both versatile and adaptable. The solution is to ensure that the self-contained annexe works with its garden surroundings as much as it serves its intended purpose.
Already, situated outdoors but with all the comfort of indoors, the garden pod has advantages as a space in its own right.
It can make the most of natural light, while providing good garden views. With the option of French doors and skylight windows, it can maximise its setting, helping to create a true feeling of uniqueness.
It brings the beauty of the garden in but presents a substantial, indoor environment.
The Garden Pod Lifestyle
Imagine living in this kind of space of your own.
It provides all the comforts of home you need, and it is fully self-contained. You’ve got all the bathroom amenities you require, and the perfect kitchen space.
And then you look out of the windows onto a familiar garden space, with a pathway leading to the house that is close by, but not so close that it stops you feeling fully independent.
You can organise your own day around your immediate surroundings, or you might pay a little visit to the house, or expect guests from there to arrive later on.
You do not have to worry about getting in and out, or about unexpected or nuisance callers. You know you have the privacy of your location that you can trust in, but should there be any kind emergency, help is at hand, just a short distance away.
It Can Be Anything You Want it to Be
Obviously the now-familiar name granny flat gives it away. The garden pod is a great solution for offering elderly people a form of independent living close to their loved ones.
But the garden pod can be anything you want it to be. It could be your area for relaxing in; for exercising in as your home gym; for socialising or for business.
In a period where the housing market is uncertain, and where space is at a premium, the garden pod offers the opportunity to make the most of space you might not realise you could use so effectively.
Get In Touch
At iHUS we specialise in garden pods. From design and planning, including any necessary red tape, to build and installation, we take care of it all. Book your free consultation today. Just get in touch, and one of the iHUS team will be able to answer any questions you have.
