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Shipping Container GymConcept render — example build

Container conversion

Shipping Container Gym

Train at home, every day, in a room built for it.

A real gym, steps from your back door

Most home gyms are a corner of the garage or a spare bedroom that never quite works. The kit gets in the way, the floor isn’t right for heavy lifts, and the room was never built for sweat, noise or chalk dust. A converted shipping container gives you something different. A dedicated, properly built space that does one job and does it well.

We start with a solid steel shell, already weatherproof and already structural, and turn it into a room you’ll actually want to train in. Insulated so it holds heat in January and stays bearable in July. Lined and painted so it feels like a room, not a box. Floored with proper bonded rubber that takes a dropped barbell without flinching or marking. The result sits in your garden, ready the day it’s delivered, with no planning headache for a standard rear-garden gym and no months of building work.

Built by a finisher, not a fabricator

Jack spent more than fifteen years as a kitchen fitter before this, which matters more than it sounds. Fitting kitchens is precision joinery in tight spaces: getting lines straight, panels flush and finishes flawless where every millimetre shows. A container conversion needs exactly that eye. The difference between a tidy gym and a cheap-looking one is in the corners, the trims, the way the lining meets the floor and the way the door closes. That’s the part we obsess over.

Because we hold our own stock of containers, we’re not waiting on a supplier before we can start. When your build is agreed, work begins. Not a place in someone else’s queue.

What a 20ft gym gives you

A standard 20ft container gives you roughly 13 square metres of clear, dedicated floor, enough for a rack, a bench, a platform and cardio without everything stacked on top of each other. Go to a 40ft and you’ve got room for a full rack-and-rig setup, a stretching zone and storage. We’ll size it around what you actually train: powerlifting needs floor strength and ceiling height for overhead work; a HIIT or spin setup needs ventilation and airflow; a PT running clients needs space to move around them.

Mirrors go where you need to check form. Lighting is bright, even and LED so it’s cheap to run and never flickers on camera if you film your sessions. Sockets sit at working height for fans, speakers and chargers. And because it’s insulated to a real standard, not a token layer, you can train at six in the morning in the dead of winter without it feeling like a fridge.

Delivered and sited in a day

Your gym is built at our workshop and delivered finished. For most gardens we site it on levelled pad stones: no foundations, no concrete, no waiting for anything to cure. The container arrives on a HIAB lorry that lifts it cleanly over fences and walls into position, levels it, and leaves. In most cases you’re training in it the same day. If access is tight, we’ll work that out with you before delivery day so there are no surprises.

If you ever move house, it moves with you. A container gym isn’t a fixture you leave behind. It lifts back onto a lorry and comes too.

Year-round, low-fuss, yours

The whole point is that it’s ready. No subscription, no commute, no waiting for a squat rack. You walk down the garden and you’re in. The insulation and ventilation mean it works in every season; the rubber floor and steel shell mean you can be as loud and heavy as you like without worrying about the building. And it’s backed by our 5-year structural guarantee, so the shell that holds it all up is covered.

Tell us how you train and we’ll design the gym around it, then build it, deliver it and set it down ready to use.

What’s included

  • Full insulation: walls, floor and ceiling for year-round training
  • Ply or moisture-resistant lining, painted to your choice
  • Reinforced rubber gym flooring rated for dropped weights
  • Mirror wall section
  • Electrics: sockets, LED lighting, consumer unit (Part P)
  • Lockable doors and opening windows for ventilation

Popular options

  • Air conditioning / heating for extreme weather
  • Sound system and TV mount pre-wired
  • Sauna or recovery zone partition
  • External cladding to match your garden
  • Roller shutter or glazed sliding doors
  • Water and drainage for a sink or shower

Home Gym builds

See full gallery →
Garden gym exterior: clad & sited
Concept render — example build

Garden gym exterior: clad & sited

North West

20ft Home Gym: rubber floor & mirror wall
Concept render — example build

20ft Home Gym: rubber floor & mirror wall

Greater Manchester

No jargon, no dodging

Home Gym: common questions

Do I need planning permission for a container conversion?

For a day-use garden building, such as a gym, office, room, bar or studio, you usually fall under permitted development and need no application, provided it sits behind the house, is single storey, is kept low within 2m of a boundary (max 2.5m high there), covers no more than half your garden and has no veranda or raised platform. Conservation areas, AONBs and listed properties have tighter rules. Anything used for sleeping or letting always needs full planning permission. Always verify with your local planning authority. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland differ from this England guidance, and a Lawful Development Certificate is worth considering for peace of mind.

What about sleeping in it, or using it as an Airbnb or annexe?

Any space used for sleeping or letting, such as a guest annexe, a holiday let or an Airbnb, always needs full planning permission and must meet Building Regulations, without exception. That covers insulation, ventilation, fire safety and how services are installed. We build glamping and holiday-let units to that sleeping specification from the start and will guide you through the planning route, but the permission itself is granted by your local authority.

Do Building Regulations apply?

For a detached garden building under 15m² of internal floor area with no sleeping use, Building Regulations generally do not apply. Between 15m² and 30m² there are conditions, mainly around proximity to boundaries and fire. Any sleeping accommodation brings full Building Regs into play. One thing always applies regardless of size: Part P, covering electrical work, and we wire every build to it. Always confirm your specific case with your local authority building control.

What foundations does it need, and how is it sited?

For most gardens, none in the traditional sense. A container is structural in its own right, so we typically site it on levelled concrete pad stones or a simple prepared base, with no digging foundations and no waiting for concrete to cure. On softer or sloping ground we will advise on the right base. The unit is craned into final position, levelled and left ready.

How is it delivered, and how much access do you need?

The finished unit is delivered on a HIAB lorry, a lorry with a crane that lifts the container over fences, walls and hedges into position, so the lorry itself does not need to reach the exact spot. We do need clear access for the lorry to get close enough and overhead room for the crane. Tight or unusual access is usually workable, but we assess it with you before delivery day so there are no surprises. We deliver nationwide from our Radcliffe base.

Is it insulated enough to use all year round?

Yes. Proper insulation is the difference between a usable room and a cold steel box, and it is where cheaper conversions cut corners. We insulate walls, floor and ceiling to a real standard and seal against draughts, so the space holds heat through a Manchester winter and stays comfortable in summer. Add heating or air conditioning and it is a genuine every-day-of-the-year room.

Concept render — example build

Ready for your home gym?

Tell us what you’re picturing. We’ll design it, build it, and set it down ready to enjoy.

We reply within one working day · Radcliffe, Greater Manchester · Nationwide delivery

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