Garden studio 4.5m x 7m for arts and crafts at Warners Bay near Newcastle NSW

Mentioning Colorbond cladding in classic Cottage Green reminds most people of traditional Federation colour schemes. What’s so exciting about this practical 4.5m x 7m craft workshop near Newcastle is Cottage Green used in a modern way with contrasting cream-beige aluminium window frames and louvre-style windows for extra ventilation. Plywood also features as a beautiful, informal interior lining material. These unstaged, unstyled shots were taken by our Newcastle installer for Backyard Pods while his work on the site (Warners Bay) was progressing. You can see from these pics how the installation works progressed and you can imagine how great-looking and useful this craft studio became for its owners when fully completed and connected to services.

NSW permits exempt development of non-habitable rooms (eg: sheds, workshops) up to 20m2 under-roof area (<10m2 in other states), providing that certain setbacks, limitations, and clearances are met. Larger sheds and workshops need approval, although usually under less strict conditions (and for lower application fees, etc) than a habitable space. All habitable rooms (eg: office/study, bedroom, extra living area, etc) will need approval for any size, anywhere in Australia, whether or not attached to the main house. If anyone says differently, they don’t know the rules (or they’re not saying for a reason). Get it ‘wrong’ and you might face demolition or other serious consequences.

If you need advice about getting your own backyard studio, guest cabin, or granny flat in the most cost-effective way without risk or uncertainty, we’re here to help. Hundreds of customers in NSW, VIC, QLD, and ACT have successfully achieved their backyard building dreams with help from the team at Backyard Pods.