Backyard studios – studio pods
The backyard studio is a category of buildings that includes backyard cabins, teenage retreats, home offices, sewing rooms, pool houses, music rooms, guest cabins – any habitable building that’s separate from the main house but not fully self-contained like a granny flat. Your idea of backyard studios might be a simple spare room with no plumbing, which would be the cheapest option. Some people also want a sink or powder room, while others want an ensuite and sometimes a kitchenette as well. Browse our wide variety of real-life customer examples for ideas and inspiration on backyard studios.
Backyard Pods began in 2016 with the very first studio pod made from 100% Australian-made Truecore© steel framing with Colorbond© cladding and Zincalume© roof. Since then, backyard studios have become a must-have for many homeowners – even those with the tiniest backyards or small inner-city courtyards. Using a Backyard Pod studio kit with no slab needed, people can have backyard studios installed where access is difficult (eg: no access other than through the house) and on sloping land without major excavations. You can DIY or have your backyard studio fully completed for you, ready for you to move in, work, hang out, or get creative in almost no time compared to conventional building methods. People can have more affordable backyard studios with Backyard Pods.
How much does it cost for a backyard studio?
How much your backyard studio will cost depends on the size, location, and complexity. A single room with internal lining and electricity is the most affordable. Adding a powder room, shower, or kitchenette – any plumbing and sewerage connections will add to the cost quite significantly. As backyard studios are a broad category it includes backyard workshops, storage rooms, etc, which can be exempt from approval. Whatever salespeople might say, the Australian building code dictates that all ‘habitable’ rooms in Australia are subject to approval. No worries, if you like, we can help you to get an approved backyard studio that is certified and insurable for occupancy and will add value to your home as extra ‘legal’ space for living, working, or sleeping.
Backyard studio designs and examples
Intended as a home office with facilities, this versatile backyard studio with ensuite at Greensborough, Melbourne, is handsome on the outside and wonderfully spacious inside.
While every Backyard Pod project begins with the flatpack building kit, it’s the choices made by our customers that determine the desirability of the completed result. Style-wise, this backyard studio guest cabin in Sydney is a complete knock-out.
You may love where you live but just need a little extra space to focus on work or study, do some yoga, have guests for a sleepover, or let your hair down with a band rehearsal.
The cost of extending an established home to create an extra room is usually prohibitive, yet many people living in the inner-city need just a little extra space to work from home in peace and without disruption to family life.
A disused shed was knocked down to create this teenage retreat with private facilities. With extended eaves on one side only, and a soft green-neutral colour palette, we think it blends well into this back garden at Preston in Melbourne.
For this family at Reedy Creek on the Gold Coast, their poolhouse pod became their much-wanted media room where they could entertain friends and have guests stay overnight. This poolhouse is bright and fresh in cool Surfmist to blend with the local Burleigh vibe and swimming pool surrounds.
Our customers in Anglesea, southwest of Melbourne beyond the famous Bells Beach, wanted a guest cabin including an ensuite at the rear of their property. They successfully undertook their project as DIY owner-builders using a flatpack building kit from Backyard Pods.
Our customer wanted a low-cost home office pod against the boundary fence (usually a no-no) and erected on skids, as a portable building, so they could relocate it in the future.
This 3m x 6m Backyard Pod completed at Seven Hills, Sydney, shows that you don't need much space for a poolhouse with ensuite! It's energy-efficient too, featuring our range of Polar Eco View double-glazed modular doors and windows for energy efficiency and a lovely, open outlook to the lawn and paved pool patio area.
When our customers in Bald Hills, a suburb of Brisbane QLD, needed a spacious home office and rumpus room 3.6m x 8m in their backyard, it wasn’t as easy to start building as they first thought. This approved home office and rumpus room added value to the property at a lower cost using a flatpack building kit from Backyard Pods.
