Pool Houses

A pool house is an extension of your home, and not just an addition to your property. Our pool houses are designed and built using the same engineered timber and construction methods as our garden rooms and orangeries, ensuring a quality, spacious structure that is built to last.

Whether the building is created for an outdoor or indoor swimming pool, you will need to consider other elements, such as changing and shower areas, or lounging areas for a pool terrace. 

When you begin your project with us, we take you through from start to finish on the consultancy, design, and construction, ensuring your satisfaction upon completion.

What Is a Pool House?

A pool house is a structure built adjacent to a swimming pool. It may have some additions including a changing room, showers, storage room, or a kitchen and seating area.

In comparison, a pool enclosure is the building situated over an indoor pool, acting as a shelter for year-round usage, which requires a mandatory air handling system and insulation to manage moisture levels.

Our pool houses and enclosures cover everything from a simple poolside building to a fully insulated structure that functions as an extension of your home. We aim to create a pool house tailored to your needs, whilst keeping structural integrity and practical design at the forefront.

Climate Control and Condensation

Naturally, the conditions inside a swimming pool enclosure are very different to an average room inside your home. The warm and humid air inside creates condensation on cold surfaces, especially glass, increasing moisture. Without proper airflow, this could lead to mould, causing damage to the interior.

When designing and constructing pool enclosures, we utilise 150mm insulation throughout, alongside a semi-glazed roof instead of a fully glazed one. This helps maintain a stable, climate-controlled environment to prevent condensation and overheating. 

A pool house adjacent to a pool does not need an air handling system, but it does require sufficient airflow. However, pool enclosures require a mandatory air handling system to manage moisture, which helps to prevent structural issues in the long-term.

To ensure natural light, we use solar-reflective glass roof lanterns and glazed gables to illuminate the pool and brighten the area without excessive glare and harsh sun rays. Glazing is also sealed within silicone, and specific paint is chosen to help withstand the moisture-heavy conditions of a pool room.

With buildings like these, we highly recommend underfloor heating to keep the heat at floor level. This is more efficient and improves the air-handling requirements of a pool environment.

Timber Specification

Our pool houses are built using Accoya, an engineered timber that does not rot, expand, or contract. Using these quality timber frames and cladding is integral to ensuring the long-term stability of a pool house, especially when exposed to high levels of moisture and condensation.

The joints of these frames stay tight to prevent water seepage, and are painted to create a strong layer that lasts significantly longer, up to 12 years between coats. This ensures the longevity of your extension, reducing maintenance over time.

Internally, these frames are made of laminated redwood; a clear, knot-free timber that provides a warm, natural finish to complement your home. Where there is heavy foot traffic and risk of water, this durable timber is crucial to a functional pool house. 

Our timber swimming pool buildings are professionally designed and built to handle the specific demands of a poolside environment, especially in the UK with a humid temperate oceanic climate.

Pool House Design and Layout

We tailor every pool house to you and your property. Each is designed individually, and is not manufactured to one standard format. Normally, when we begin our designs, we start with the position of the pool, the orientation of the garden, how it connects to the main house, and how the space will be used daily.

Pool house designs will often follow the proportions of a garden room or orangery, with multiple sets of double doors or fully retractable sides on the pool-facing elevation for ease of entry. 

For example, opening the doors in the summer extends the living space into the garden and onto the pool terrace, increasing the foot traffic and its overall usage. 

Internally, the layout could open as a single room or be designed to include a changing area, shower room, or even small kitchen area. We decide the layout during the design process and work with you to complete your pool house, rather than sticking to a fixed, standard option.

Pool Houses, Garden Rooms and Orangeries

Although a pool house uses the same timber frame, glazing systems, and roofing options as a garden room or orangery, they are very different. Structurally, a pool house can complement its surroundings differently depending on the door positions, sight lines, threshold materials, ventilation and climate control. These extensions are made with the pool in mind, designing it to work well with the unique conditions.

Whether you are considering a garden room overlooking a pool, or a poolside house, the design process is the same. We start with the site and the brief, and not the product category, utilising our experience of over 30 years for a smooth process.

Your pool house is tailored to your taste and your property’s needs, with no standard models or fixed sizes restricting the project. 

Our fitting teams carry out the installation, keeping third parties out of the process and creating an in-house experience for you. If you would like to discuss your project or arrange a design consultation, get in touch with the team using the form below or request a brochure today.

FAQs

What is a pool house or enclosure?

A pool house is a building designed to sit alongside or over a swimming pool. It can serve as a covered swimming area, a changing and shower facility, a storage space for pool equipment, or a fully insulated year-round living space. The specification ranges from simple poolside shelters to timber-framed, climate-controlled buildings with tiled roofs, underfloor heating and full-height glazing.

Do you need planning permission for a pool house?

Whether planning permission is required depends on the size, height and position of the pool house relative to the main dwelling and the property boundary. Many pool houses fall within permitted development rights, but this varies by local authority and the site’s specific constraints. 

How much does a pool house cost?

The cost depends on the size, specification and complexity of the design. There is no fixed price list because every pool house is designed individually. The most reliable way to understand the cost for a specific project is to arrange a design consultation, where the brief, site, and budget can be discussed together.

Does a pool house add value to a property?

A well-designed, well-built pool house can add both usable living space and market appeal to a property. The extent depends on the quality of construction, the specification, and how well the building integrates with the house and garden. Pool houses built with engineered timber, insulated roofing and proper climate control are treated as permanent structures by surveyors and buyers, not as temporary garden buildings.

How big should a pool house be?

There is no fixed size. The design scope depends on the site, the pool size, and what the space needs to include. A pool house used purely as a changing and shower area can be relatively compact. One designed as a living space with a kitchen, seating, and full-height glazing will be larger. Every project is designed around the specific requirements rather than adapted from a standard model.