Garden Studios: Music, Art and Treatment Rooms

A garden studio is a garden office built for making something other than paperwork: music, recording, painting, pottery, or treating clients. In Ireland a studio of 12 to 20 m² costs €13,390 to €22,000 put up, or €25,250 to €32,000 fully fitted. What changes from an office is the walls for sound, the light, the floor, and water.

The same building as an office, specified for a different day's work.

Size my office Get a free quote

Free, no obligation. One local company prices it, not five.

€13,390 to €22,00012 to 20 m², put up
€25,250 to €32,000fully fitted
Weightis what stops sound

Two dark green timber buildings with lit windows, joined by a deck — Two timber buildings joined by a deck. A studio often wants a second room: one to work in, one to store or to wait in.

What each kind of studio asks for

Studio	What matters most	Ask for
Music practice or recording	Sound staying in, and out	Heavy, layered walls and ceiling, a solid door with seals, small or laminated glass, a floor that does not drum
Art and craft	Even light and a floor that takes mess	Glass to the north, a hard floor, a sink, wall space with no windows
Treatment or therapy room	Privacy, warmth and a place to wash hands	Obscured glass, a heater that holds a steady temperature, a sink
Podcast, video or voice	A quiet, dead room	Soft surfaces inside, no humming heater, a data cable
Sewing, making, repairs	Bench space and sockets	A long wall with no door, sockets at bench height, storage

Sound, in plain terms

Sound is stopped by weight and by gaps being sealed. A light timber wall with insulation in it keeps heat in and lets drums out. A music studio needs more mass in the walls, the ceiling and the door, and no trickle vents left open. It costs more and it takes a little floor area. Say at the start that sound matters: it cannot be added well afterwards.

If the worry is the neighbours, put the door and the glass on the side facing your own house.

Clients calling to a studio

A studio you work in yourself is the same in planning as an office. One where clients come for lessons or treatment is a business run from a house, which is a separate question. Read the planning rules and ask the council before you build.

Studios, priced

What	Typical cost	What moves the price
An office for two desks, 12 to 16 m²	€13,390 to €16,720	4 × 3 m to 4 × 4 m. The insulation, the doors and the glass
A 20 m² office, 5 × 4 m	€15,200 to €22,000	Triple glazing and thicker insulation sit at the top
A two-room building, office plus store	€13,390 to €17,950	5 × 3 m to 6 × 4 m, with a dividing wall and a second door
Fully fitted, 12 to 16 m²	€25,250 to €27,500	Insulated, wired, lined and floored, ready to work in
Fully fitted, 20 m²	€32,000	The same finish on a bigger floor
Plumbing for a toilet and sink	€1,000 to €2,500	Distance to the drains, and whether the waste needs a pump

Our price guide for Ireland. Ask whether VAT is in the price. Many list prices leave it out. Ask what the price includes: the base, the cable from the house and the inside finish.