What does a putting green cost? Price breakdown, budget, and TCO in 2026

Search for “putting green” and you’ll find dozens of pages explaining why you need one. What’s hardly ever mentioned: what it costs. This makes it difficult to request an internal budget for something where you can’t yet name a price.

That’s why this article. Below, you’ll find the price ranges per type of solution, the factors that determine the price, and a cost breakdown over five years so you can fairly compare renting and buying.

Four ways to create a bowling space

The price question has no single answer, because there are four fundamentally different routes. They differ in cost, lead time, and how much you commit.

1. Converting an existing space

You have a room that you can free up and adapt: a lock that works from the inside, a sink, a refrigerator, comfortable furniture, and — often forgotten — ventilation. The cheapest option on paper.

In practice, this falls short as soon as ventilation or plumbing is required. A space without mechanical extraction quickly exceeds the CO₂ limit set by legislation during a half-hour putting session. And the real cost point isn’t visible on the invoice: you permanently lose a room that you might use only a few hours a week.

2. Installing a portable unit

A ready-made, soundproof cabin that you place in an existing space. No renovation, no permit, no piping if you choose a variant without a sink. Delivery and installation usually take one day.

For most offices, this is the most predictable route, and it’s also why this segment is growing fastest: you’re buying a finished product with known acoustic performance instead of a construction project with open-ended results.

3. Renting or leasing

The same unit, but as a monthly expense. Interesting if you rent your premises, if you plan to move within a few years, or if you don’t want the investment on your balance sheet. We’ll explore this further, and in renting or buying a prayer room, we’ll fully outline the considerations.

4. Included in a renovation

If you’re renovating anyway, it’s relatively cost-effective to include the prayer room — the contractor is already there. The marginal cost is mainly finishing and installation. Downside: you’re tied to the project’s overall schedule.

What does a prayer room cost? The bandwidths

The amounts below are market bandwidth prices, excluding VAT, observed in public tenders in July 2026. They provide you with an order of magnitude for internal calculations; the exact price depends on the factors listed below.

What stands out when you look at this table for a while: the cheapest and the most expensive option differ by a factor of eight, while the end result for the user can be quite similar. In this market, the price says little about quality and a lot about the route you choose.

What determines the price?

Six factors explain almost the entire price difference between two units that look identical in photos.

Acoustic performance

The biggest single price difference. A pod that dampens 20 dB and one that dampens 34 dB may look identical from the outside, but differ fundamentally in wall construction, door sealing, and glass thickness. For a lactation room, this matters on two fronts: the user doesn’t want to hear the office garden, and especially not that the office garden hears her. Don’t skimp here.

Ventilation

A closed space of a few cubic meters requires mechanical ventilation, period. The Belgian Code demands a CO₂ concentration that typically stays below 900 ppm or at least 40 m³ of fresh air per hour per person. A unit with a quiet, well-sized fan costs more than one with a noisy little ventilator — and the latter undermines exactly what you bought the cabin for.

Size

From compact (around 1 m²) to spacious (2 to 3 m²). Larger units offer more comfort and space for a small table, a cabinet, and a mini-fridge. Larger units also require more materials, heavier transport, and sometimes an extra installation hour.

Sink and cooling

In Belgium, the Codex explicitly requires a washing facility and the ability to store milk hygienically. A sink with water connection requires plumbing and noticeably increases the price; a separate fridge is relatively inexpensive but is often forgotten in the first quote.

Finishing and furniture

A comfortable chair with armrests, good dimmable lighting, a small table, hooks, and a mirror. Together, a few hundred euros, but the difference between a space that feels like a facility and one that feels like a broom closet with a chair.

Delivery and installation

Often offered separately, and the item that most frequently comes with surprises. Always ask about: transport, installation, removal of packaging, and whether the unit fits through your elevator and doors. A cabin that can’t reach the third floor is an expensive problem.

Renting or buying: the calculation over five years

Below is a comparison based on the mid-range values from the table above. Replace the amounts with your own quotes; the structure of the calculation remains the same.

The break-even point is around these amounts after four years. If you stay in the same building for longer than four years and need the space structurally, buying is cheaper. If you are in a rented building with an expiring contract, or want to first determine how much the space is actually used, renting offers you mainly security — and that’s worth the price.

One nuance the calculation doesn’t show: a purchased unit is movable. If you move, it goes with you. This makes the classic ‘buying locks you in’ reasoning less strong here than with a renovation.

Costs no one covers

Three costs you must account for yourself, as they rarely appear in quotes.

• The square meters. A unit of 2 m² in a building at € 200 per m² per year costs you € 400 per year in space. Realistic, but often forgotten — and it’s exactly the argument for choosing a compact unit when occupancy is low.
• Cleaning. A prayer room must be hygienic. Explicitly include it in the cleaning contract, otherwise, it may slip through the cracks because it’s ‘not a workspace’.
• Consumables. Hand soap, paper wipes, cleaning wipes. Small amount, but someone needs to restock it. Assign that person.

What it doesn’t cost: the breaks themselves

A common misconception we encounter with Belgian employers tackling this topic for the first time: you don’t pay for the breastfeeding breaks themselves — they’re reimbursed by the health insurance fund at 82% of the gross salary. Your cost is the space and the lost productive hours, not the wage cost of the break.

In the Netherlands, this is different: there, wages continue during lactation breaks at the employer’s expense, up to a maximum of a quarter of working time. If you work in both countries, this is the difference to factor into your business case.

How to sell this internally

When requesting a budget, the comparison works better than the absolute amount. A putting green costing € 9,000, depreciated over five years, costs € 1,800 per year. That’s less than the cost of one recruitment process for a departing employee.

This comparison isn’t a rhetorical trick: the return after maternity leave is a proven moment when organizations lose employees. If one employee stays per five years because the return goes smoothly, the investment is recouped.

What we would advise

For an office with up to approximately 150 employees: one compact, movable unit with sink and cooling. No renovation, predictable costs, and flexible if you relocate. For more than 150 employees or multiple floors, it becomes interesting to consider multiple smaller units instead of one large one — accessibility matters more than space.

Our pod spaces come in three sizes, from compact to spacious, all ready to install without renovation and featuring ventilation, lighting, and acoustic dampening as standard. You’ll also find them in the workspace configurator, where you can instantly see what fits in your space.

Want a tailored quote? Request an offer — we’ll calculate it for your building, including delivery and installation.

Frequently asked questions about the costs of a coffee space

What is the average cost of a putting green?

A ready-made, movable sound booth for one person typically costs between €5,000 and €12,000 (excl. VAT), depending on size, acoustic performance, and whether it includes a sink and cooling. Converting an existing space starts at around €1,500, but costs quickly rise if ventilation or plumbing is required.

Can you rent a coffee space?

Yes. Rental and lease prices for a movable coffee space typically range between € 150 and € 300 per month. This is interesting if you rent your building, plan to move within a few years, or do not want the investment on your balance sheet.

Is renting or buying cheaper?

At standard market rates, the break-even point is around four years. If you stay in the same building longer, buying becomes more cost-effective. If you’re in a rented space with an expiring lease, buying with renting mainly offers flexibility.

Which costs are usually forgotten?

Delivery and installation (often quoted separately), the square meters the unit occupies, cleaning, and consumables such as soap and paper towels. Explicitly ask in a quote whether transport and installation are included.

Does an employer have to pay for breastfeeding breaks themselves?

Not in Belgium: these are reimbursed by the health insurance fund at 82% of the gross salary. In the Netherlands, yes: the salary continues to be the employer’s responsibility, up to a maximum of a quarter of working time.

Last updated on 24 October 2026 by Stijn Belmans