Unique Circular Garden Rooms, modular school buildings and lodges - Handcrafted in the UK
A spot of glamping; anyone?
noun
British informal noun: glamping
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a form of camping involving accommodation and facilities more luxurious than those associated with traditional camping.
“glamping is likely to satisfy any city slicker seeking a little refuge in nature—without foregoing any of life’s luxuries”
If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of….. another glamping site!!
The trend for UK glamping first showed up at Glastonbury in 2005 with the moneyed and the stars wanting to enjoy the festival weekend but not have to wade around in the mud and spend the night in a damp flappy tent. It’s not hard to see how images of the boggy fields of Glastonbury may have put many people off a camping and since the term “glamping” (glamorous camping) was coined, the trend has been surging in popularity.
The Glastonbury festival’s 5* Glamping “Camp Kerala” described by Vogue magazine as “unquestionably one of the most glamorous places to be in the UK” has been growing in popularity over the past few years, albeit only among those who can afford the £8,000 price for a weekend in a shikar tent, originally designed for use by the maharajah of Jodhpur and filled with Rajasthani furnishings and duck-down duvets. Gosh!
By 2011 there were over 150 Glamping sites scattered over the country and the trend is set to continue.
As much as we might gasp at prices of the infamous Camp Kerla, glamping makes a lot of sense. Being outdoors is good for us, environmental psychologists have been writing papers for years on the life affirming benefits being out in forests. Most city dwellers like to escape the densley packed smoggy urban environment to experience a weekend out and unplug from the fast paced reality of ‘normality’.
The problem that glamping is so clearly solving is that until recently there have only been two options – camping or b&b accommodation. The middle ground has now arrived! The creativity shown by both the glamping sites and the manufacturers of glamping pods and self-contained accommodation units is just wonderful, the dizzying options of huts or tents to inhabit are just staggering; to name but a few are:
Tipis, Bell Tents, Yurts, Shepherds huts, camping pods, wigwams, safari tents, gypsy caravans, treehouses, up-cycled buses and train carriages, igloos.. (got you there!) no, not igloos (but I wouldn’t be surprised if an ice-hotel did open up in this country).
Here’s a short description of some of those:
- Yurts are portable Mongolian dwellings made from a circular wooden frame covered with felt, with the frame including wall sections and door. Yurts normally have large living areas, usually include indoor heating and often have indoor cooking facilities too.
- Tipis are Native American conical tents, and like yurts usually come furnished and fully equipped – check individual listings for details.
- Wigwams are also Native American, but domed in structure, and can be wooden or canvas. Like yurts and tipis, they can sleep from two to six or eight people.
- Camping pods are curved wooden structures with double glazing and wool insulation. Most sleep two adults or two adults and two children, with family pods also available on some sites.
- Lodges are often the height of camping luxury and a good option if you’re camping in a group. Lodge parks can include camping pods but can also cover camping cabins, camping huts and shacks:
- Shepherd’s huts are similar to camping pods, with many restored from original shepherdy dwellings and some are insulated.
- Gypsy caravans have soared in popularity in the past couple of years, with old wagons fully restored for old-style glamping.
… Now, this is amazing, but really, what if your family doesn’t do well at being squeezed into a bell tent or a wigwam? Quirky is good but a safari tent is still a tent. Does this mean the outdoor holiday must still be restricted to the summer months?
There’s one really fabulous building which isn’t yet on that list (have you guessed what it is?!) and of course, that’s the…. Rotunda!
We’re been speaking with rural hoteliers and glamping sites all over the UK about the benefits of having a temporary eco-building in the round which would not only provide an unforgettable experience for all who enjoy it, but is flexible enough to add additional units on and expand bedroom space if larger groups made up a large part of their clientele. Log Burning Stoves, hot-tubs, underfloor heating, mosaic tiled bathrooms and beautifully designed compact kitchen units can all be incorporated as part of the package.
Lease agreements are available to trial the unit prior to purchasing them outright and they’d bring a steady of revenue to the outdoor retreat centre or glamping site over the winter months; which is when most sites experience a shortfall of visitors. Win win!
Each and every one of us at Rotunda Living C.I.C. are looking forward to a winter escape with our families in a luxury Rotunda (it’s a regular day dream of mine!) and judging by fantastic conversations we’ve had with dozens of glamping sites requesting further information (on how they can be the first to provide the most innovative luxury lodge available to their guests!); the dream is quickly becoming a hard and fast reality! Smashing! We’ll stock up on some firewood then…
Until then…. enjoy your weekend!
Blogpost written by Gemma
How to Heat your Garden Room in the Winter
Heating your Garden Room in the Winter
You’re dusting the remnants of that recently devoured mince pie off your desk and scouring Amazon for those last minute purchases…. Once more enticed by the Carol singing, the mince-pie scoffing and that ‘devil-may-care’ attitude to chocolate which can only really be justified once a year!
As you retrieve your scarf and gloves which have been languishing abandoned in a cupboard under the stairs for the last nine months, you stop to wonder what now happens to your dream of working in the garden?! The jubilation you once felt at the idea of merry contentment, working at your leisure surrounded by the cheerful idealistic greenery of your well-tended outdoor space has hastily been replaced by a somewhat apprehensive glance towards the bleak and barren monochrome wilds at bottom of your garden. A cross-country commute to a purpose built office block might momentarily seem a more attractive option (provided you can catch a taxi to the station).
But as bleak as it might seem out there, the Garden Room is WINTER PROOF! (And the warmth will almost certainly welcome you before your coffee has had a chance to cool en-route to your desk; regardless of the seemingly impenetrable wintry gale hurtling towards you down that garden path – please persevere, you won’t be disappointed!).
Countless times we’ve piped on about the ultimate benefits of the Garden Room – that it’s a multifunctional, multi-season, weatherproof and above all else, a winter-proof modular building. This is when any real Garden Room worth it’s salt will come into it’s own!
Built like a timber framed house, a high-spec garden room will be compatible with almost any type of heating system you could imagine using in your home. Whether you’re using your building as a garden office, spare guest room or man-cave (to name but a few), here are a few tips to get you started:
Convection Heater
Simple, cost-effective and instant, a convection heater warms the air through it’s heated element and is much quieter and efficient than a fan heater. Oil filled radiators are also a form of convection heater and most of these will come with a timer fitted so you can set the heater an hour or so before you intend to use your office/garden-room.
A very well insulated building (naturally, the Rotunda is a perfect example) will retain the heat and it should circulate around the room providing you with a great ambient heat.
- Approx Kw output: 2-3kw
- Budget Guideline for a 1-2 person office £25-35
- Cost to run: Med/High
Underfloor Heating
If your garden room comes fitted with Laminate or Wooden flooring it’s incredibly simple to specify electric underfloor heating from your chosen supplier. The foil mats roll out under the flooring system and a digital thermostat is usually fitted near the light-switch at the entrance to your garden-building. Some installers provide a remote control and the thermostats can be set to a timer so your Garden Room will be warm before you’re heading down the garden-path.
- Approx Kw output: 1 -1.5kw
- Budget Guideline for a 1-2 person office £500-700
- Cost to run: Low
Log Burning Stove
A log burning stove is a beautiful way to heat your garden office or studio. The smallest stoves are ideal for smaller spaces, and you’d be best to limit the output to 4kw if you have a highly insulated building. There are some wonderful little models which are commonly used in barges and house-boats, one such stove is ‘The Hobbit’ built by ‘Salamander Stoves‘ here in the UK. Other stoves we’d recommend are the Charnwood C4 (picured) and the Little wenlock wood-burning stove, from £625, AGA. Although we can ensure your garden building is compatible for your Log burning stove, it is always best to seek the services of a local stove installer who can fit the stove, flue and hearth for you when your building is being installed. This could cost several hundred pounds.
- Approx Kw output: 4-5 kw
- Budget Guideline for a 1-2 person office £1,200 – £1,500
- Cost to run: Low
Flueless Bio Ethanol Fires
lthough fairly new in the UK, bio-ethanol are well established on the Continent and Scandinavia and we’re really excited to have recently come across them. No need for a flue or hearth, these handy little stoves are self-contained and are fed by clean burning eco friendly bio ethanol liquid or gel derived from the fermentation of crops, so no need to connect to any services!
There is also no residue when burning, so there is literally no maintenance, which is a big step forward compared to wood burners. (You can buy bottles of fluid from £1.9o per litre which will hold about 2.5 hours of fuel).
- Approx Kw output: 2-4 kw
- Budget Guideline for a 1-2 person office £350-400
- Cost to run: Med
Needless to say, these suggestions are not exhaustive; on the larger and commercial buildings, a gas combi-boiler (the same as in your home) can be fitted and there are numerous eco-alternatives such as Air Heat Source and Ground Heat Source pumps also available.
So, here’s to wishing you a toasty warm garden room this winter, and we hope that your fears have now been dismantled! As always, should you have any questions or concerns relating to the heating or installation of a garden room in the depths of winter, please do feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to chat to you further!
Blogpost written by Gemma Roe.
Copyright © Rotunda Eco Build Ltd.