UK insulated panel manufacturer, Hemsec responds to significant growth in demand as homeowners turn to structural insulated panels (SIPs)-built garden rooms and home offices
Merseyside based Hemsec is one of the UK’s leading and longest-standing insulated panel manufacturers. This year, the company has seen a significant increase in demand from installation partners for offsite modular structural insulated panels (SIPs) built garden rooms.
The rise in demand for garden rooms and home offices comes as homeowners look to reduce commuting and spend less time in offices due to the pandemic and changing work patterns.
Speedy, design flexibility and thermally efficient
Hemsec’s business development manager, Richard Bennett, said: “Over the last decade, the growth in the market for garden rooms and home office extensions has risen steadily, driven pre-Covid by increasing consumer interest in extended living space and a desire for home working by those seeking a more balanced lifestyle.
“This year, however, is like no other, as people are currently required to work from home where possible. This means much less time is spent commuting to the office, and much more time with families, causing people generally to re-evaluate their lives.
“As a result, we are seeing a sharp increase in demand from our supply chain partners as people are choosing SIPs-built solutions.
“Homeowners are attracted by the speed of installation, their flexibility in their use and design – and because they are extremely thermally efficient, as well as being great value due to the short payback period.”
Garden rooms: Saving time and money
Research published in recent years confirms that there are significant savings in time and money for hard-pressed commuters; according to a Lloyds Bank survey in 2019, the average British worker spent 492 days of their lives travelling into work – or around 10 days per year.
The financial benefits are considerable too, from travelling less, whether by car or public transport. As an example, the price of a first-class annual season ticket from Bristol to London costs nearly £15,000. The average garden room costs approximately £15,000, excluding installation costs, demonstrating that consumers can recoup the cost very quickly by investing in a garden room and continue to benefit for years to come. A typical garden room also increases the value of a home by around 5% – annexes often more.
Furthermore, many businesses are supporting their employees financially to install home office extensions, and tax benefits are available. Each of these factors are making the garden room or home office an attractive financial option.
Offsite modular SIPs: Ideal for the garden room and home office extension
SIPs are a thermally efficient, composite building material, perfect for garden room installations and year-round use. When installed correctly, they are virtually air-tight, increasing the thermal efficiency and reducing noise – as well as ideal for combining with other energy-efficient solutions such as solar panels, underfloor heating and ground source heat pumps. They can be installed quickly; the SIPs form the entire outer shell and are manufactured in a factory, meaning the construction time on site is greatly reduced.
Space is at a premium with most garden rooms and because a SIP provides both structure and insulation in one narrow panel, building with SIPs means the walls are thin, so there is much more internal space. SIPs are extremely strong too, designed to withstand vertical and horizontal loads.
SIPs-built garden rooms are constructed to the same quality design specification as houses, ensuring that they will last for many years to come, with relatively low maintenance. Panels can be produced to precise lengths and as part of a bespoke design. They can be manufactured to form part of a building kit.
A SIPs built garden room is not a glorified garden shed….it offers an unbeatable use of internal space and is flexible in design; it is a high-quality product for today’s new way of life.
