How much does an Architectural shed cost?

If you are looking at building a high-end lifestyle shed to match your house, you may be wondering how much extra it will cost to add some architectural features to your shed. 

In this article, we discuss what you can do to make your shed more aesthetically pleasing and provide a rough guide to how much these features cost. 

For the purpose of this article, all costings are worked out for a fully enclosed, clearspan 9.0m by 14.4m long shed. 

Eaves: 

Eaves can give your shed a more contemporary look and also provide a little extra rain protection over any access points. Typically, eaves would be around 400mm - 800mm, with the most common size being 600mm. The reason for this is most soffit materials come in 1.2 x 2.4m long sheets, so when the sheet is cut in half lengthways, no material is wasted. 

It would cost around $150.00 per lineal metre to put a 600mm eave on a shed. If you intend to put soffit lining underneath the eave, more blocking, flashings, fixings and labour is required which would increase the cost. 

Wing walls: 

Wing walls can be a great way to make the shed more aesthetically pleasing. These are typically found on the end walls of a shed. Once again, sizes can vary but 600mm is the most common. A 600mm wingwall with plywood lining would typically cost around $3,000.00 per gable end. 

Steepened roof pitch:

Increasing the roof pitch is a great way to make the shed match in with an existing house. Most common roof pitches on a house are between 20-35 degrees whereas most sheds in New Zealand have a 10 to 15 degree roof pitch. Increasing the roof pitch increases the length of the roof run, meaning longer sheets of iron and longer steel rafters are required. The increase in length is minimal which means that going to a steeper pitch on an Alpine shed costs very little. For some other shed systems in New Zealand, it is not so easy and can increase cost significantly. 

Custom cladding: 

5-rib and corrugated iron are the most common and cost-effective options, as they require minimal framing compared to other options which means less labour is required. 

Another cladding option is board and batten. This cost increases significantly as the raw materials cost more and more than double the amount of framing is required compared to iron cladding. A board and batten wall would typically cost around $200 more per sq meter than standard iron cladding. 

Other cladding options like weatherboard or brick are significantly more difficult to tie into a shed. These cladding options really need standard 3604 house framing as they need a lot more fixing points which means the labour cost also increases significantly. 

Sectional doors: 

Sectional doors can be clad in a variety of materials, from cedar to corten steel, so they can be a great way to bring in other colours and textures to match your house. Depending on the type of cladding chosen and the door size, prices can vary wildly, sometimes more than double the price of a standard roller door. For accurate costings, it is best to get them quoted; however it is not uncommon for cedar clad sectional doors to cost more than $10,000.00+GST per door. 

Internal Linings: 

When lining the internal walls of the shed, plywood is your best option. It would be recommended to include building paper between the cladding and the wall framing which acts as a moisture barrier, then plywood lining can be added to the internal walls. 

There are several ways to make your shed more aesthetically pleasing, match in with your house and add more value to your property. Increasing your roof pitch or including wing walls are some options that don’t cost all that much extra yet can add a lot of value to your property.

If you are looking at building a high-end lifestyle shed, talk to the team at Alpine to get some ideas on what can be achieved, along with detailed costings for your exact needs / requirements.