Looking at an old space in a new way.
THE Project
After decades of family enjoyment, the existing rear garden and pool area of this property were looking a little......the worse for wear.
The clients contacted us for some ideas to refresh and invigorate a garden that was perfect for a small, young family, but not so great for a large, multi generational family.
The existing entertaining area was too small for more than 6 people, the lawns were sloped and not suited very well to ball games, the swimming pool wasn't being used anymore because it had become a 'dark and spidery place', and there was no structure to the garden, nowhere for older kids to get away from the grown ups.
The brief was to update the entire garden and create some spaces for small groups, kids and adult alike, to get together. A larger entertaining space was a must, and the pool needed to be cleaned up and updated.
BEFORE: Still functional, but has seen better days for sure!
THE DESIGN
The idea was to reuse what was already there as much as possible - there were a few areas that needed fine tuning, but the general layout of the garden remained the same, albeit with some new and improved zones and a much easier to look after space.
The local area is nearby to bushland, and we wanted to incorporate that as much as possible by using natural stone and timber, as well as some modern elements like glass fencing. The idea was to create a bushland-like setting in suburbia, a place where the owners felt a world away from city life.
THE POOL AREA
The old red brick & brown pebblecrete pool was no longer appealing to the family; the rock waterfall was mossy and leaky and thus no longer served its purpose as a feature of the garden. The garden beds behind were falling into the pool, making it mucky and hard to care for.
So we stripped back the pool surface and reimagined the water feature into the pool as a rock faced waterfall - a rock clad retaining wall wraps around the back of the pool and holds back the garden bed behind. The texture of the rock clad wall is picked up elsewhere in the garden to make the overall look cohesive.
BEFORE: Small entertaining area attached to the house, and not much visibility into the pool area. The pool is sadly dated and not very appealing.
AFTER: A big improvement! Granite crazy paving gives a nod to the local area, as well as tying in well with the granite accents in the waterfall and in retaining walls around the garden areas. The new pool surface is light grey, making for a much more refreshing looking swim! Visibility from the new and improved decked entertaining area is much better, too, thanks to the frameless glass pool fencing. Timber posts give an extra detail, are pool safe, and break up all the fencing at each end.
Great visibility from the expanded entertainer's deck to the pool area - the whole space is opened up.
ENTERTAINING
We removed the old red brick paving and installed an expansive timber deck, creating room for a group of 12; by raising the deck one step, a better view into the pool area is achieved, and this helps with communication between this and the pool area.
In addition to this, we cleared some of the heavily planted garden area - this resulted in much more space for a larger, healthier lawn, and we were able to create another break out zone for kids and adult alike to sit around the campfire and chat.
BEFORE: The rear corner of the garden had a lot of scrubby, overgrown shrubs that took up a lot of space and fought with the lawn for sunlight.
AFTER: The sunken 'campfire lounge' seating area, where smaller groups can site and chat over a crackling fire.
EXTRA FEATURES
An upgrade to the existing veggie garden and creation of 2 'layers' of garden make the whole space feel much bigger, and ensures maximisation of space as well as an easier garden to look after.
The whole garden now reads as a cohesive total space, complete with pool and water feature, larger entertaining area, second campfire area and larger lawn.
Recycled steppers in the lawn give access from the veggie beds (which are well hidden) up to the main lawn and pool areas.
Recycled timber steps lead up from the sunken campfire lounge to the lawn area. Bolstered granite blocks serve as retaining walls to give the lawn a lift and to tie in with the granite in the pool area.
POOL RENOVATION : THE POOL COMPANY / LANDSCAPE CONSTRUCTION : THE GARDEN COMPANY