A modern, fully equipped outdoor room forms the focal point of this luxury landscape
The home renovation complete, it was time for the impractical and dated garden to make way for a modern resort-style outdoor retreat — and in the hands of Steve Taylor and the team from Creative Outdoor Solutions, this is just what the family has received.
The alfresco entertaining room has it all, including a full outdoor kitchen (built by The Kitchen Place) with commercial bar fridges, BeefEater barbecue, Quasair rangehood, matching glass mosaic splashbacks and 80mm-thick CaesarStone benchtops. Ceiling-mounted electric radiant heaters, cafe blinds and a weatherproof plasma screen extend the use of the space into the cooler months.
The outdoor room overlooks the large family swimming pool and spa (built by Aloha Pools). From the in-floor cleaning system and remote-operated control system to the interior finish of Iceberg Bisazza glass mosaic tiles and the large feature granite water wall (added by Creative Outdoor Solutions), the pool is the epitome of modern design.
Raised rendered planter boxes, floating sun decks and frameless glass fencing (from Clearly Frameless) and a rear feature fence of slatted merbau define the perimeter of the pool and the surrounds are paved in Nero Notte granite (from Granite Works). Granite was also used to pave the seating area to the side of the outdoor room.
The contemporary plant palette relies on the textural interplay of a variety of native plants, including a grass tree, kangaroo paws, Banksia spinulosa “Birthday Candles”, dwarf protea “White King”, Acacia cognata “Green Mist”, blue fescue, Libertia ixioides “Taupo Blaze”, several astelia varieties, Lomandra confertifolia “Little Con” and a hedge of weeping lilly pilly. Into this mix, Steve has interwoven a few exotics, such as the feature dragon’s blood tree which frames the sun deck.
At night, extensive ambient landscape lighting combined with the lighting in the outdoor room brings the space to life, creating the ultimate entertaining venue.
The outdoor room and swimming pool aren’t the only highlights of the design. This resort-style retreat proves you can have a landscape that’s simultaneously water wise and luxurious. A 90,000-litre underground tank harvests all storm water. The collected water irrigates the garden, tops up the pool and supplies the home’s total water requirements, except for drinking water.
By taking a water-wise approach to the design and construction of this landscape, Steve and his team were able to create a series of visually striking, functional and innovative outdoor spaces that work in harmony with the environment and provide the perfect venue for entertaining day and night, no matter what the season.
Project details
Landscape design and construction Creative Outdoor Solutions PO Box 99, Glen Iris Vic 3146 Phone (03) 9759 7707 Mobile 0409 597 707
Email steve@creativeoutdoorsolutions.com.au Website www.creativeoutdoorsolutions.com.au Photography by Tim Turner
