Shark tanks, crocodile lagoons, laser defences, and a subterranean shooting gallery — nothing is impossible when making the ultimate garage

This week, we turn our attention to UK garage sensations. No, not the gods of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s two-step scene, like Craig David and the So Solid Crew. I’m talking brick-and-mortar edifices for storing, protecting and showing off one’s automotive assets. They could be underground, or they could be cathedrals with roller-shutter doors. Uffizis for vehicular masterpieces. Some, as we’ve discovered, are designed with singularity of purpose: to be the ultimate man cave.

For those who follow Formula One (F1), Adrian Newey needs no introduction. For those who don’t, he’s been the draughtsman and aerodynamic brains behind 12 constructors’ and 14 drivers’ world-championship victories, which makes him the most successful racing-car designer of all time.

Newey has been well remunerated for his efforts, and a considerable share of that moolah has gone into his car collection, which includes a 1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta Tour de France, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder, a 1963 lightweight Jaguar E-Type, a 1969 Ferrari 512 S Le Mans car, an ex-Jochen Rindt ‘Gold Leaf’ Lotus 49, a road-legal McLaren F1 GTR and the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar that Newey helped design.

They are kept secure and perfectly air conditioned in a purpose-built storage facility he created next to his Buckinghamshire home. It doubles as an art gallery, library, office and entertaining space, and there’s a mezzanine filled with highlights from his portfolio, including Alain Prost’s 1993 Williams-Renault FW15C, Kimi Raikkonen’s 2002 McLaren, and one of Sebastian Vettel’s championship-winning Red Bulls.

‘In my own home, I’ve pushed the meaning of what many would consider a “garage”,’ says Newey. ‘I respond to a living and working space that celebrates cars, the joy they bring, and the many magnificent forms they take.’

Now you can own something rather similar, sans the £50 million contents of course. Newey has teamed up with an architectural company called shack., which builds avant-garde cabins, to produce an Adrian Newey-designed garage that one can purchase off-the-shelf. The ‘Paddock Shack’ can stable two to six cars, with plenty of living area left over, so you can kick back in your party pad while admiring your supercars. There’s a high-tech CCTV and alarm system, and an iMist sprinkler system which, if it goes off, won’t leave your pride and joys with water damage.

These modern, almost Scandi-looking single-storey buildings take between eight and 16 weeks to erect and cost between £120,000–£290,000 — about the same price as a major service on a McLaren F1 GTR. They will also chuck in a complementary consultation with Clarendon Fine Art to help curate what goes on the walls. Why have old Texaco and Michelin ads up there, like every other garagiste, when you could have an original Mr Brainwash or Takashi Murakami?

Alternatively, if you wish to be more bespoke, why not go full Bond villain? Aston Martin — and this isn’t a joke — has a department entitled the ‘Automotive Galleries and Lairs Division’. Working with architects and Aston’s in-house design team, clients can create their own luxury retreat imbued with the spirit of 007’s favourite car brand. Those architects include Austrian firm Obermoser arch-omo, which created the 007 Elements cinematic installation in Sölden. Shark tanks, crocodile lagoon, laser defences, and a subterranean shooting gallery — nothing is impossible.

Some garagistes, however, prefer to go it alone. Nigel Brunt, for example, oversaw the design and construction of the 15,000 sq m mega-garage that sits under his Hertfordshire pile. Brunt, a billboard magnate who claims to have built Piccadilly Circus not once, but twice, is a lifelong petrolhead who kicked off his jaw-dropping collection with a Ford RS2000 in 1985, when he was 18.

Every few years Brunt sells his entire stable and starts again. He’s owned not one, but three Porsche Carrera GTs. His white Lamborghini Miura S (ex-Rod Stewart) now belongs to Newey. The current inventory includes a black-on-black ‘Batman’ Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster, the latest Prodrive P25 Subaru Impreza, a Mercedes 190E Cosworth Evo 1, one of only two Hummer EVs in the UK, and a Ferrari LaFerrari. His favourite: the Ruf SCR — a totally bespoke modern Porsche with styling based on the early 1990s 964.

The giant complex has spots for 24 cars and has five turntables, each whirring silently so one can appreciate the supercars’ curves at 360 degrees. ‘I can make them do a little dance,’ says Brunt, ‘and I can also change their positions Thunderbirds-style so I can get them in and out easily. But most of all, these are beautiful pieces of art. I wanted to experience my cars with my friends and family at the same time that we’re indulging in the leisure things we love.’ Because what makes this a truly incredible garage isn’t just the rare Porsches, Ferraris and Koenigseggs on show, it’s the two-lane 10-pin bowling alley, wine cellar, cigar room, snooker room, cinema, gym, two swimming pools and a penny-sweet shop, all with sightlines to Brunt’s sparkling auto hoard.

Brunt’s physical garage isn’t up for grabs, but this one is: Foscombe House in Gloucestershire (on sale with Savills for £5.5 million) is a turreted Victorian Gothic mansion previously owned by the Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. Watts never learnt to drive, but that didn’t stop him collecting fine automobiles, and he had a particular ardour for pre-war Lagondas.

The current owner of Foscombe, Mark Martin, made his millions when he sold his private healthcare insurance company in 2012 and sunk the cash into property. He’s also been a gentleman racing driver, hooning one of James Hunt’s F1 cars, Ayrton Senna’s F3 car and Niki Lauda’s Ford Capri around Europe’s Grand Prix tracks. He’s built a 3,500 sq m facility in which to store his cars and use as a flexible entertaining space. Clad in cedar to make it look like an old barn, it’s fully insulated and with an air-exchange system to keep the damp out. Inside it’s clad in green oak with room for up to 20 cars, which currently include a 1939 Alvis Special, 1964 Mini Cooper S and a sumptuous ex-Elton John 1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III Continental Flying Spur by Mulliner Park Ward.

‘I also keep my collection of original old movie posters in there,’ says Martin. ‘James Bond, Le Mans with Steve McQueen, The Great Escape, Zulu… I’m a big fan of Michael Caine.’ You can imagine the actor sauntering in here, removing an envelope of high-denomination notes from under a bonnet, and then banging on about how many tigers he’d killed with a machine gun in India.

Should one live in the metropolis, one is likely to be more limited on space and perhaps have to share with fellow residents. Well, London garages don’t come any sleeker or more discrete than The Vault, which is the name given to the parking facilities at One Grosvenor Square. The covered entrance is constructed from American walnut and elegantly resembles the branches of a sweeping tree, and access triggers Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR).

The Vault has an automated system of lifts whereby the driver enters from street level and parks their car on a pallet before exiting. By the time you’ve walked through the door of your palatial apartment, your vehicle has been filed away in a subterranean vault that stretches four underground levels and comprises 47 hyper-secure bays — many with electric chargers. The intelligent system learns one’s comings and goings, so if you have a habit of needing your motor at 7:15am on a Monday, it’ll be cued up and ready.

No.1 Grosvenor Square | The Vault Car Park - YouTube

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Or perhaps one wishes to give the car a break and let it enjoy some luxury in the country, in the same way the owner might check into a spa, or rehab. The Car Hotel, located in the northern Cotswolds, is a high-end car storage and care facility situated in the grounds of Alex Heynes’ family home. ‘I grew up in a car-obsessed family,’ says Heynes, whose father had his own professional racing team and who partakes in classic racing series himself. ‘The Car Hotel was established around an inherent lifelong passion for just about any classic or modern car or motorcycle, with a huge amount of experience in transporting, storing and preserving specialist cars.’

The high-security facility (patrolled 24 hours, directly linked to the police, and boasting bandit fogging, reinforced bollards and very loud alarms) is designed for purpose and with specialist climate control systems. As well as car (and human) accommodation, there’s a concierge service that covers any assistance needed, including valeting and detailing (the car spa), MOT testing, restoration management and repairs (that’ll be the rehab bit). Like all Cotswolds VIP haunts, the helipad gets plenty of use. Different room levels are available, starting at £51-per-week. Just don’t let your Bentley rack up a huge mini-bar bill.

From Bond lairs to bowling alleys, and car spas to man caves designed by a Formula One mastermind, the humble garage can be elevated to truly exotic heights, as befits the valuable automotive artworks and bonkers toys therein.