Enter the Roundhouse… 2022! @ Rotunda Roundhouses – Unique Garden Rooms & Yurt Style Eco-Buildings

Enter the Roundhouse… 2022!

Roundhouses have been with us since the birth of our civilisation.

As 2022 rolls in, we feel so proud to recognise how magnificent it is, that the Roundhouse is now rooting itself back into our civilisation – taking hold in the UK as the preferred style of building for many schools, nurseries, homeowners and retreat operators in the UK. At Rotunda Roundhouses, we feel it a privilege to revive this form of architecture across the UK and as we look forward to 2022, we look back to the wonderful year of 2021.

The first build of 2021 was a unique little pool house in Surrey.

Finished with a smooth, planed Cedar Board and terracotta eco-slates

This style of cladding and roof slate is not a standard finish for us and it set a great tone for the year, as many of our builds were a real mix of non-standard and unusual designs for many different clients. Of these, were six primary school classrooms, five unique garden rooms, several clusters of prestigous leisure buildings and one highly bespoke nursery unit.

We also returned to one of our clients in Glastonbury to retrofit a Bedroom and kitchen for them….

This unit was installed without an extension but now… a sliding wall… and a lovely new bedroom!

We moved into the year with three garden rooms, all distinctly different. One of these, was a never-before-seen 3/4 Rotunda-Gym, designed with a flat wall to snugly sit up against a stone and flint wall.

The most unusual bespoke adjustment didn’t end there… the next eco-building to leave our workshop was a double-tunda….
One of our schools requested that we squeeze two small units on a tiny plot but had a requirement for maximum internal space…. which resulted in…… this!

The Rural B&B and retreat clients of ours really pushed the boat out this year and commissioned the most fabulous Rotunda buildings.

In Cornwall, we constructed a bridal suite installed as the “Jewel in the crown” of an already successful Roundhouse and Yurt site. This time, they had sweeping bi-fold doors in Anthracite Grey.

By the middle of the year, we were up in Scotland, building a nursery structure for Midlothian Borough Council and then, straight on to Ebbsfleeet Valley to create another…

7m Roundhouse Art and Drama Room for Cherry Orchard Academy

Towards the end of the year, Philip Kay, our current MD took leave of his role to head back into retirement (again!) and spend some time in Spain with his wife Kay…. we were all very sad to see him go and he will be sorely missed by all of us at Rotunda. Our clients love his cheerful attitude and his incredible sense of humour. We’re sure he won’t be gone for long…

  • Philip Kay – Retires! 🙁
  • Joanna Hayes – Our new MD 😀

On the exit of Phil, Joanna Hayes, previously our Project Manager and co-director, has stepped into the role of MD. She’s unbelievably good and we all congratulate her on her new position as gatekeeper and all-round amazing MD of Rotunda Roundhouses! She is loved by our clients and staff alike and is a logistical wizard who stops at nothing to ensure builds exceed expectations.

We are excited to be building four new lodges like the one above for our Cornwall Client and have two new classrooms under construction for installation in Feburary…

December was a difficult month for us. We were busier than ever, with two site teams simultaneously delivering Rotunda installations in the South of England – but a whole office of staff struck down with COVID-19. As an unprecedented event, we had to shut the office for almost a week and survive with skeleton staff operating remotely. It was, one of the most difficult challenges we’d ever faced!

Now we are back in 2022, we still have two key staff members home with COVID (we miss you two!) and one isolating, working remotely but we are back; firing on all cylinders and ready to deliver beautiful Roundhouses all over the country. Some are full school buildings with a value of >£1m and others, small garden rooms for as little as £25,000.00. The diversity of work we have in manufacturing at the time of writing is quite staggering. This year is set to be a record year for Rotunda Roundhouses.

What we’ve learnt from 2021:

  • That life is short – and those of us who work in an industry we love are blessed to have such a wonderful career and to create such a beautiful product
  • In a world where eveything seems dark and ominous, a holistic and esoteric approach to building brings a ray of sunshine to us all!
  • That the Coronavirus pandemic might have slowed us (and our suppliers) down but hasn’t stopped the Roundhouse from being built all over the UK and we are busier than ever. The way forward is a-round.
  • That our clients, our followers, friends, shareholders, industry partners and employees all share Rotunda’s vision for a better, more sustainable world and we take delight in bringing this into reality.
  • That if nothing else, love what you do, do what you love! For really, nothing else matters.

Welcome to 2022 everyone!! Thank you for being part of our journey!