Outdoor Buildings Buying Guide

Choose from a range of sizes to store garden equipment, such as large lawnmowers, or simply use it as an overflow from the house.  

• Highly secure and lockable

• Single pane toughened safety glass windows

• Planning permission not required

For the green-fingered, our elegant Edwardian-style greenhouses are designed for growing plants and vegetables in a temperature-controlled environment. The self-opening roof vents automatically open to allow ventilation, and they close as the temperature drops.  

• Practical environment for growing plants and vegetables

• Edwardian-style design

• Self-opening and closing ventilation

• Secure and lockable

• Single pane toughened safety glass windows

• Planning permission may be required

If you’re looking for an extra room, garden hubs and studios provide you with a separate space from your home. They can act as a feature for your garden as well as being a practical and fully insulated space for year-round use, perhaps as a home office.  

• Separate living or working space at home for year-round use

• Fully insulated with double-glazed toughened safety glass

• Matchboard lined interiors

• Secure and lockable

• Buildings under 2.5-metres high do not need planning permission

Giving a truly panoramic view of your garden, our range of luxurious garden pods or dens from Farmer’s Cottage make an outstanding architectural feature. These futuristic glazed capsules are spherical, some even rotate to take in your surroundings and enjoy, or avoid, the breeze.

• Designed for year-round use

• Waterproofed, sealed and designed to handle the heat

• Planning permission not required

Summerhouses come in a variety of shapes and sizes; traditional wooden cottage styles have a rustic feel with solid timber construction and leaded windows and doors creating a light, airy space. Octagonal summerhouses offer a panoramic view of the garden, while storage chalets combine a storage space at the back and a smaller summerhouse or cabin at the front. The National Trust collection includes four styles, from classic to beach house.

• Winter storage solution

• Single pane toughened safety glass with leaded design

• Double opening doors

• Secure and lockable

• Larger summerhouses may require planning permission

Pop-up gazebos or canopies are ideal for outdoor parties and for shading a part of the garden where friends and family can sit or play. They’re easy to store and portable, making them a good choice for camping too.

As well as sheds and outdoor buildings, we have a selection of outdoor storage solutions, including ladder-style shelving for the garden, and boxes for keeping furniture cushions, seating pads and smaller items.

Crane Garden Buildings is an FSC-certified company and all of its buildings are made from FSC-certified Northern Scandinavian Redwood, sourced from cold-climate latitudes in north Sweden where trees grow slowly and produce more hard-wearing timber. The timber is then kiln-dried for up to three weeks to make it stronger, reduce warping and splitting, and to remove moisture so that the wood is more closely conditioned to our climate. The superior-quality timber has a closer grain with less knots.

We aim to have full traceability on all of our timber, to ensure it’s legally compliant and where possible, independently certified as being from a responsibly managed source.

Crane works with microporous paint, which is breathable and flexible. As the timber expands and contracts with the climate, the paint stretches and shrinks to ensure a watertight building. Every building has three coats, protecting it for up to five years and giving it a seamless finish that looks good for years to come.  You should treat the building every three to four years to ensure the outside remains in good condition. When any retreating is required, matching paints are available to order from Crane.

The National Trust by Crane summerhouses feature cast iron fleur-de-lys black door furniture. The Hub has chrome door furniture. All other Crane summerhouses, garden studios and greenhouses feature heavyweight brass door furniture hinges and handles. All of these buildings have a mortice lock for security. Crane sheds are fitted with a seven-lever security lock bolted to the door. The sheds are supported by hinges that cannot be unscrewed and the door cannot be lifted off, making them highly secure.

Crane garden studios and hubs have pent roofs that slope gradually from front to back. They’re protected with heavy-duty nylon-backed felt, heated to a high temperature and stuck to the roof timbers to ensure a frost and watertight barrier. This remains maintenance-free for 10 to 12 years, depending on where you site your building. Crane’s storage chalets have a gable roof made from extreme-wear mineralised roofing felt.

Crane’s Large Garden Room has a vaulted roof with long-lasting tiles designed to resemble natural slate. They’re made from resin and rubber and last up to 45 years. Just like real slate, they’re a pewter-grey colour when dry and blue-purple when wet.

Crane works with microporous paint, which is breathable and flexible. As the timber expands and contracts with the climate, the paint stretches and shrinks to ensure a watertight building. Every building has three coats, protecting it for up to five years and giving it a seamless finish that looks good for years to come.  You should treat the building every three to four years to ensure the outside remains in good condition. When any retreating is required, matching paints are available to order from Crane.

Crane’s National Trust summerhouses have traditional corrugated apex or flat roofs

The location of your outdoor building is key to enjoying your new space and can affect its longevity. Here are some things to consider.

• Opt for south-facing if you want a sun trap with more light

• Overhanging branches and falling leaves can impact roof and gutters

• You might want access via a garden path

• The building needs to be in a dry place away from heat sources

Outdoor buildings will be delivered directly by the manufacturer, rather than by a John Lewis & Partners van. The supplier will contact you directly with a proposed delivery date.

Built to last, every Crane garden building comes with a two-year guarantee.