16×6 Summer Houses at a Glance
Size: 16ft x 6ft (approx. 4.8m x 1.8m) · Construction: Quality redwood timber · Glazing: Toughened glass as standard · Floor & roof: Solid timber construction · Roof styles: Apex and pent designs available.
Uses: Garden retreat, hobby room, home office or leisure space · Installation: Free installation included on Platinum buildings · Insulation: Insulation options available, including fully insulated Platinum models · Bases: Base building service available · Customisation: Bespoke sizes, window and door positions, heights and other design options available · Finishes: Coloured paint options available.
See before you buy: View full-size summer houses at our Surrey show site near Guildford, Woking and Ripley. Need advice? Our experienced team can help with specification, insulation, base requirements, installation and bespoke options before you order.
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Why Choose a 16×6 Summerhouse?
A 16×6 summerhouse has a nominal footprint of around 96 square feet, or approximately 8.9 square metres. What makes this size particularly interesting is its shape. Sixteen feet gives you substantial usable wall length while the six-foot depth allows the building to fit into gardens where an eight-, ten- or twelve-foot-deep summerhouse would project too far onto the lawn.
I recommend marking out the complete 16ft x 6ft footprint before ordering. Stand inside the marked area and think about where your furniture will go, where you want the entrance and what you would like to see through the windows. Remember that 16×6 is a nominal description, so always check the exact dimensions and required base size of your chosen model.
What Can You Use a 16ft x 6ft Summer House For?
A 16ft x 6ft summer house can work extremely well where you want different activities arranged along the length of the building. You might have comfortable seating at one end with a desk, hobby table or storage at the other, or create a long studio, craft room or garden office.
The dimension I would plan most carefully is the six-foot depth. You have plenty of length, but unnecessarily deep sofas, desks or cupboards can restrict movement through the room. Measure key furniture before you order, and use those measurements when choosing the final door and window arrangement.
Why a 6 x 16 Summerhouse Can Suit a Long or Narrow Garden
A 6 x 16 summerhouse will normally describe the same nominal 96-square-foot footprint as a 16 x 6 summerhouse, with the dimensions stated in the opposite order. This long, shallow arrangement can work particularly well alongside a fence or boundary where you have plenty of width but do not want the building extending too deeply into the garden.
Manufacturers do not always describe frontage and depth in the same order, so use the individual product drawing rather than the category name when preparing your site. Check which elevation is sixteen feet, which is six feet and how much additional room is required for roof overhangs, installation and maintenance.
Which 16×6 Summerhouses Are Available?
The current 16×6 category displays six Platinum summerhouses: Winchester Apex, Winchester Pent, Winchester Transverse, Odiham Pent, Fleet Apex and Twyford Pent. This gives you a useful choice of apex, pent, and transverse layouts, along with different insulation specifications.
< p> Comparing buildings at the same nominal size is particularly useful because dimensions alone do not tell you what you are buying. Two 16ft x 6ft summer houses can occupy approximately the same amount of garden but differ in roof style, insulation, doors, windows and overall specification.
Winchester 16×6 Summerhouses
The Winchester Apex, Winchester Pent and Winchester Transverse are particularly flexible because their published size range extends considerably beyond 16×6. All three currently offer a colour paint finish and full insulation as options and include professional assembly.
The Apex gives you the familiar pitched-roof appearance, the Pent provides a cleaner single-slope profile and the Transverse changes the roof orientation. I would choose between them according to both appearance and how the building will sit in your garden.
Fleet and Odiham Fully Insulated 16×6 Summerhouses
The Platinum Fleet Apex and Odiham Pent deserve separate consideration because they are supplied as fully insulated buildings rather than simply offering insulation as an optional extra. Fleet gives you an apex-roof format while Odiham provides the pent-roof alternative.
If you expect to use your summerhouse regularly for home working, hobbies or a studio during cooler months, I would compare these two carefully. Their fully insulated construction provides a stronger starting point for extended use than a conventional seasonal summerhouse.
What About the Platinum Twyford Pent?
The Twyford Pent is another current 16×6 option and offers full insulation as an upgrade rather than being supplied fully insulated as standard. That can be useful if you like the design but want to decide whether the additional insulation specification is justified by the way you intend to use the building.
I would not add insulation merely because it sounds better. If your summerhouse is mainly for pleasant spring and summer days, you may not need it. If you know you will spend several hours inside during colder weather, the calculation is very different.
Should a 16×6 Summerhouse Be Insulated?
Insulation is valuable when the intended use justifies it. For conventional summer relaxation, you may decide that a simpler specification is sufficient. For home working, art, crafts or hobbies through colder parts of the year, insulation becomes considerably more worthwhile.
Insulation reduces the rate at which heat passes through the structure; it does not generate heat. Heating, glazing, ventilation and the construction of the roof and floor all matter as well. If colder-weather use is important, compare our wider selection of insulated summer houses and look at the complete specification rather than one headline feature.
Can a 16ft by 6ft Summer House Be Used as a Garden Office?
Yes. A 16ft by 6ft summer house can make a very practical garden office because the sixteen-foot length provides plenty of room for desks, shelving and storage. You can also create a second workstation or small seating area at the opposite end.
The six-foot depth requires sensible furniture choices. Very deep desks and large office chairs can reduce the available walkway, so measure your intended furniture before ordering. For regular year-round working, also consider insulation, glazing, heating, ventilation, electricity, lighting and internet connectivity.
A 16×6 Summerhouse for Hobbies or a Studio
The long interior can be particularly useful for hobbies because you have substantial linear wall space for workbenches, cupboards, shelves or display areas. Artists may value windows and natural light, while model makers, crafters or collectors might prefer more uninterrupted wall space.
This is why I recommend deciding what you intend to do inside before deciding how much glazing you want. Extra windows are not automatically an advantage if they take away the exact wall space required for shelving or equipment.
Why I Look Beyond the Photograph
After working with timber garden buildings since 1979, I know that two attractive photographs can hide significant differences in construction. An online image can show you the style very well, but it cannot tell you everything about the timber, framing, floor, roof, doors, glazing or joinery.
I look at the complete building. Good cladding needs suitable framing behind it, substantial doors require good joinery and a solid floor needs appropriate support. No single headline measurement should replace a full specification review.
Why Timber, Framing, Floors and Toughened Glass Matter
The summerhouses in our main ranges use quality timber construction, solid wooden floors and toughened glazing. Those fundamental parts interest me more than many decorative accessories because they contribute directly to what the building is like to use.
I encourage customers to inspect the details that can be difficult to appreciate online. Feel the floor, open and close the doors, look at the window joinery and examine the framing and roof construction where possible. Those practical details can reveal far more about quality than paint colour or photography.
Apex, Pent or Transverse 16×6 Summerhouse?
The current selection gives you all three approaches. Fleet and Winchester Apex provide traditional pitched-roof options, Odiham, Twyford and Winchester Pent provide single-slope pent designs, and Winchester Transverse offers another roof orientation.
I would choose partly according to appearance but also according to the site. Think about nearby fences, trees and buildings, where you want the entrance, which direction you want to face when sitting inside and how the doors and windows affect your furniture.
Can a 16 x 6 Summerhouse Be Made Bespoke?
Design flexibility is available on selected summerhouse ranges, including changes to dimensions and door or window arrangements where the particular model permits it. This can be particularly valuable in a sixteen-foot-long building because a poorly positioned door or window can remove a large section of otherwise useful wall space.
If you already know where your sofa, desk, shelving or hobby equipment will go, plan those positions first. Then discuss whether the standard layout works or whether another design or alteration would suit the room better.
Can a 16ft x 6ft Summer House Include Storage?
Combination summerhouse and shed designs are available elsewhere in our range where you want one building to provide both leisure or working space and practical storage. A long footprint can lend itself particularly well to dividing the interior into separate uses.
If integrated storage is important, compare our summer houses with shed storage. A slightly different overall footprint gives you a better balance between the main room and the storage section.
A Good 16×6 Summerhouse Needs a Good Base
One piece of advice I have repeated for decades is that even the best garden building needs a proper base. Your summerhouse should stand on a firm, flat and level foundation suitable for the exact building. An uneven or unsuitable base can affect the way the structure sits and may cause problems with doors and windows.
Do not prepare a foundation simply from the words “16ft x 6ft”. First, obtain the exact required base dimensions for your chosen model. Our summer house base guide explains the principal foundation options and why getting the base right is so important.
Professional Fitting Included
The six Platinum buildings currently shown on this page include professional assembly, subject to the individual product, delivery area, suitable access and the required prepared base. I regard this as a useful part of the package because correctly assembling a sixteen-foot-long timber building is a substantial job.
If your garden has a narrow side passage, steps, high walls or anything else that might restrict access, please contact us before ordering. Resolving access and base questions beforehand is much easier than discovering an issue on installation day.
See a Summerhouse Before You Buy
When I started selling garden buildings in 1979, there was no internet, so customers naturally saw buildings before buying them. Online research makes comparison much easier today, but photographs still cannot demonstrate how solid a floor feels, how the doors operate or what the internal proportions feel like when you are standing inside.
That is why I continue to recommend visiting our Surrey garden building display site if practical. We cannot show every model in every size, but representative buildings allow you to compare construction, materials and specifications before deciding what matters most to you.
My Garden Building Experience Goes Back to 1979
I’m Robin Antill, founder of 1st Choice Leisure Buildings. I left school at 15 and started my first garden building business in 1979, trading as Marina Sheds. I was involved hands-on with making, selling and supplying timber garden buildings, and that practical background still influences how I assess buildings today.
I sold Marina Sheds in 1990, although unfortunately I did not receive all the money that was due to me from the sale. It was a difficult business lesson, but it did not end my involvement with the garden building industry.
From Marina Sheds to Titan Garden Buildings
By 1992 we had broadened what we offered beyond sheds and added summerhouses, garages, garden rooms and log cabins. Marina Sheds no longer properly described the business, so that new direction resulted in the name Titan Garden Buildings.
My son Craig joined me in 1992 after studying carpentry at Guildford College from 1990. His carpentry training added practical woodworking and timber-construction knowledge to the experience I had already gained through manufacturing, retailing and dealing directly with customers.
Why Craig and I Formed 1st Choice Leisure Buildings
We sold Titan Garden Buildings in 1998. In 2000, Craig and I decided to take a different approach. Rather than manufacture everything ourselves and naturally be restricted to our own products, we decided to retail carefully selected quality garden buildings from other manufacturers. That decision led to the formation of 1st Choice Leisure Buildings.
I still believe that independence matters because customers have different requirements. Somebody looking for a pleasant summer retreat should not automatically be sold the same specification as somebody creating a regularly used insulated garden office. Our job is to explain the differences and help you choose the right option.
Craig now runs the day-to-day business, and I am there to support him and the team whenever required. You can read more about my background, Craig and the development of the business on our About 1st Choice Leisure Buildings page.
What More Than 45 Years Has Taught Me About Summerhouses
The first lesson is that size alone does not define a building. Two 16ft x 6ft summer houses can occupy approximately the same amount of garden while differing in timber, framing, floors, roofs, doors, glazing, insulation and overall specification.
The second lesson is to buy according to how you genuinely intend to use it. Don’t pay for features you will never need, but don’t choose a straightforward seasonal specification if you know the building will become a regularly used office or studio in colder weather.
Frequently Asked Questions About 16×6 Summerhouses
How big is a 16×6 summerhouse?
A nominal 16×6 summerhouse provides around 96 square feet of floor footprint, equivalent to approximately 8.9 square metres. Exact internal, external and required base measurements vary between models, so always use the manufacturer’s detailed dimensions when planning your site.
Is a 16ft x 6ft summer house a good size?
It can be an excellent size if you want substantial usable wall length without a garden building extending too deeply onto the lawn. The sixteen-foot length works particularly well for desks, seating, workbenches and shelving, while the six-foot depth makes sensible furniture planning important.
Is a 6 x 16 summerhouse different from a 16 x 6 summerhouse?
Usually the two descriptions refer to the same nominal 96-square-foot footprint with the dimensions reversed. Manufacturers may describe width and depth differently, however, so always check the individual product plans before preparing your site.
What can I fit inside a 16ft by 6ft summer house?
The exact arrangement depends on the doors, windows and furniture, but the long interior can accommodate seating, desks, shelving, storage or hobby equipment. You can also create different zones along its length, such as relaxing at one end and working at the other.
Can I get a fully insulated 16×6 summerhouse?
Yes. The current selection includes the fully insulated Platinum Fleet Apex and Odiham Pent. The Winchester Apex, Winchester Pent, Winchester Transverse and Twyford Pent currently offer full insulation as an option.
Can I use a 16×6 summerhouse throughout the year?
That depends on the specification and how the building is equipped. A suitably insulated building, combined with appropriate heating, glazing, and ventilation, can be considerably more comfortable in colder weather than a conventional seasonal summerhouse. Choose the specification based on when and how often you expect to use it.
Can I use a 16×6 summerhouse as a home office?
Yes. Sixteen feet of length gives you plenty of room for desks, shelving, and office storage. The six-foot depth needs careful furniture planning, so measure desks and chairs before ordering. For regular year-round working, also consider insulation, heating, glazing, ventilation, electricity and internet connectivity.
Can a 16×6 summerhouse be customised?
Design and specification options vary between models, including choices around insulation, finishes and layout. If a standard arrangement is nearly right but a door or window position conflicts with your intended furniture, let us know what you need, and we can help you compare suitable options.
Can a 16ft x 6ft summer house include storage?
Summerhouse and storage combination buildings are available within our wider range. If you need both leisure or working space and somewhere for garden equipment, compare the amount of room you need for each purpose before settling on the final footprint.
Does a 16×6 summerhouse need a base?
Yes. A firm, flat and level foundation suitable for the individual building is essential. Don’t assume the base must measure exactly sixteen feet by six feet; check the manufacturer’s exact requirements before starting foundation work.
Do I need planning permission for a 16×6 summerhouse?
Many domestic summerhouses can fall within permitted development rights, but this depends on factors including the property, building height, position in the garden, proximity to boundaries, overall garden coverage and intended use. The 16×6 footprint alone does not determine whether permission is required. Read our summerhouse planning permission guide and check with your local planning authority where appropriate.
Is fitting included with these 16×6 summer houses?
The six Platinum summerhouses currently shown include free professional assembly, subject to the individual product, delivery area, suitable access and the correct prepared base. Always check the specific product information for the exact conditions applying to your chosen building.
My Advice Before Buying Your 16×6 Summerhouse
After working with timber garden buildings since 1979, my advice is straightforward: decide how you genuinely want to use the building, mark the 16ft x 6ft footprint out in your garden, measure the furniture, compare the actual construction and choose the appropriate insulation specification. The long, shallow shape can be extremely useful, but good planning matters more with this footprint than with a deeper building.
Craig, the team and I are here to explain the differences rather than automatically direct you towards the most expensive option. Please tell us how you intend to use your summerhouse, and we can help you compare the Winchester, Fleet, Odiham and Twyford choices, insulation, layouts, bases and professional assembly.
Robin Antill
Founder, 1st Choice Leisure Buildings
From £3928
