The backyard office market has exploded since COVID. Thousands of Australians working from home are looking for a dedicated workspace that isn’t the dining table.
And the market has responded — with garden pods. Scroll Instagram and you’ll find dozens of companies selling compact flat-pack cabins from $10,000 to $20,000. They photograph beautifully. Clean lines, timber cladding, a single desk facing a window.
But before you spend $12,000 on 10 square metres, let’s talk about what you’re actually getting — and what you could get instead.
The Garden Pod: What $12,000 Buys You
- Size: 3.0m × 3.5m (10.5 m²) — roughly a small bedroom
- Insulation: Basic or “optional upgrade”
- Plumbing: None
- Electrical: Basic power board or single circuit
- Classification: Class 10a (non-habitable) or unclassified
- Foundation: Timber subfloor on piers — no slab
- Resale value: Minimal — it’s garden furniture
This works if all you need is a desk, a screen, and a door to close. But it falls apart the moment you need anything more.
Where Pods Fall Short
No Room to Grow
10 m² fits one person at one desk. Need a second monitor setup? Tight. Partner also works from home? You need two pods.
No Plumbing
No kitchenette. No bathroom. Every cup of tea and every toilet break means walking back to the house — in July rain or January heat.
Minimal Insulation
A poorly insulated box becomes an oven in summer and a freezer in winter. You’ll spend more on portable AC and heating than you saved on the pod.
No Building Classification
Many pods are Class 10a — the same as a garden shed. Not engineered for full-time occupancy, and they don’t add meaningful value to your property.
The Per-Square-Metre Truth
| Garden Pod | Steel Frame Kit | |
| Example size | 10 m² | 198 m² (Noosa) |
| Kit price | ~$12,000 | ~$82,900 |
| Price per m² | $1,200/m² | $419/m² |
The pod costs nearly three times more per square metre than a full steel frame kit.
“But I Don’t Need 200 Square Metres”
Fair enough. But consider what you could do with 50–80 m²:
- A proper home office (20–30 m²) with room for two desks, a meeting area, and storage
- A kitchenette and bathroom — so you never walk back to the house
- A separate entrance for clients or colleagues
- Room for a gym, studio, or workshop in the same building
- Space that can be reconfigured as your needs change
We design custom steel frame buildings to any size. If 60 m² is what you need, we’ll design a 60 m² building — engineered, certified, and built to last.
What About Resale?
A garden pod adds little to nothing to your property value. It’s a temporary structure that a future buyer may not want — and may have to remove.
A permanent, Class 1a steel frame building on a proper slab is a genuine improvement to the property. It shows up in valuations. It appeals to buyers. It adds real dollar value.
The Bottom Line
Garden pods solve a specific, narrow problem: one person needs a desk away from the house, and they need it this weekend.
For everyone else — anyone who needs plumbing, insulation, more than one room, a proper building classification, or a structure that will last — a steel frame building is more space, better built, and better value per square metre.