Can I put a golf simulator in a garden room or outbuilding?

Start from the inside

A garden room for golf is planned inside out. The room needs the same clear space as any simulator room: 3.0m wide, 2.7m to the ceiling (3m or more is ideal) and 4.2m long for a camera launch monitor. A radar unit sits behind you, so it needs more: 5.2m for a FlightScope Mevo Gen2 and 5.85m for a Full Swing KIT, following their manuals. Walls, insulation and cladding then go on the outside, so the footprint is bigger than the room.

Write the inside sizes into the brief for whoever builds it. A builder quoting a "3m by 4m cabin" usually means the outside.

Height is the hard part

Most garden rooms in England are built under permitted development, which means no planning application, as long as they stay inside the limits for outbuildings. Three of those limits decide whether a simulator fits:

• Within 2m of a boundary, the whole building can be no more than 2.5m tall. Take off the floor and roof and that leaves too little for a 2.7m ceiling, so a simulator room under permitted development has to sit at least 2m from every boundary.
• Further back, the limit is 4m with a dual-pitched roof and 3m with any other roof, such as a flat one. Every centimetre of floor build-up, insulation and roof structure comes off that 3m, so a flat roof leaves little room for a 2.7m ceiling.
• The eaves can be no more than 2.5m on any part of the building. With a pitched roof, the height is in the middle, under the ridge.

So the shape that works is usually a dual-pitched roof with a vaulted ceiling, the bay running along the middle of the room. Check the height at the edges of the bay, not just under the ridge. SimSpace SIM 1 to SIM 4 enclosures are 2.5m high and 2.6m to 4m wide, and need 2.6m of height across their whole width. Heights are measured from the highest ground next to the building, so a sloping garden changes the numbers. Do I need planning permission for a golf simulator room? lists every limit.

Building regulations follow the floor area

The Planning Portal says building regulations generally don't apply to an outbuilding under 15 square metres with no sleeping accommodation. Between 15 and 30 square metres, approval is usually not needed if the building is at least 1m from any boundary or built mainly from non-combustible materials. For a simulator:

• A camera room at our minimum, 3.0m by 4.2m, is 12.6 square metres.
• A Mevo Gen2 room at 3.0m by 5.2m is 15.6 square metres.
• A Full Swing KIT room at 3.0m by 5.85m is 17.6 square metres.

So a radar room, or any camera room wider than the minimum, usually lands between 15 and 30 square metres. That needs the 1m gap or non-combustible construction, and the 2m height rule gives you the gap anyway.

Insulation, damp and heat

An uninsulated cabin behaves like a cold garage in winter and a hot box in summer. The electronics have limits: the BenQ AH500ST projector in our packages, the Mevo Gen2 and Square Golf are all rated 0°C to 40°C, and FlightScope gives 30% to 70% humidity for the Mevo Gen2. Foresight says not to use the GC3 where humidity is high. An insulated floor, walls and roof, plus a heater, keep the room inside those numbers. Until it's insulated, bring the launch monitor indoors between sessions.

Electrics

A garden room needs power for the projector, launch monitor and PC, and usually lights and a heater. A new circuit run from the house is notifiable work under Part P of the building regulations: a registered electrician can self-certify it, or it goes through building control. Ask for sockets at the back of the bay and lighting on a separate switch, so the hitting area can be lit while the screen stays dark. How should I light a golf simulator room? covers the fittings.

The base and floor

The base has to be level and solid. A launch monitor reads the shot relative to the mat, so a floor that sags or slopes bends the numbers, and a springy deck makes the mat bounce under your feet. On top, lay a rubber base or foam underlay under the hitting mat. FlightScope allows the Mevo Gen2's hitting surface to be no more than 76mm above the floor the radar sits on, which matters if the mat area is raised.

Windows and doors

Glass lets in daylight that washes out a projected picture and upsets camera launch monitors. Put windows and glazed doors behind the player or to the side of the hitting area, never beside or behind the screen, and fit blackout blinds. Keep glass off the line a mishit takes.

Who builds it

We supply the simulator, not the building. For a bespoke garden room or cabin we work with a specialist UK build partner; golf cabins and garden golf studios explains how that works.