Hot in the city Poolside entertaining reaches new heights in this summer yard
AN URBAN CALIFORNIAN BUNGALOW IS DECKED OUT FOR THE ULTIMATE IN POOLSIDE ENTERTAINING
During the warmer months, everything revolves around Emma and Andre’s pool. With three teenage children – Isaac, 17, Noah, 15, and Eloise, 13 – it’s a chill-out zone for the entire family and the hordes of friends who pop over for a swim and invariably stay for dinner. “After Saturday sport, the kids and their friends will have a dip in the pool, and we’ll get the pizza oven fired up and make heaps of pizzas for everyone to eat around the fire pit,” says yoga teacher Emma. “I might even bake some bread, or put on a piece of meat to slow roast overnight.”
A social space where people come and go, or kick back on the deck to enjoy music under the shade of the towering claret ash, the lush pocket evokes the feel-good vibe Emma was after when she approached landscape designer Steve Taylor of COS Design to create their outdoor area. “I really wanted it to have that industrial feel and element of surprise of a Melbourne laneway,” she explains, “where you wander along an alleyway and discover a cool cafe, and it’s not what you were expecting, but it really suits the space.”
The backyard redesign coincided with an extension to their ’30s Californian bungalow. The brief centred around forging a seamless connection between indoors and out to create multiple alfresco zones, with a contemporary, industrial palette. While Steve admits the complex brief was challenging – as was the compact 160 sqm site – the project is one of his favourites. “It’s a unique space with the claret ash as the real hero,” he says. “We opted to deck around it as it was the least intrusive option and we also went above ground with the pool, as the area is renowned for sub-surface boulders, which would have presented excavation issues.”
Elevating the pool and spa also created the opportunity to make it a strong architectural element, defined in vertical bluestone pavers, complete with a shimmering two-sided wet-edge spa. Another design masterstroke was drawing inspiration from the home’s red/blue clinker (also known as ‘Vic Blue’) brick facade, with similar rustic recycled bricks incorporated in the outdoor structures.
A border of wispy ‘Slender Weaver’ bamboo – a clumping, non-invasive cultivar – around the boundary provides an abundance of greenery and enhances the scale of the garden, with clusters of liriope and potted plants giving additional verdant bursts alongside colourful furniture. Without a blade of grass to mow, it’s also a relatively low-maintenance space. “The deck needs re-oiling from time to time but everything else pretty much looks after itself,” says Emma. The self-cleaning pool, irrigation system and outdoor lights can be controlled with the flick of a switch and the spa can even be turned on via smartphone, so it’s a perfect temperature when the family gets home. And when they walk through the door, it’s not surprising the first place they head is outside. “It’s our own little bolthole – we just love it,” says the mum-of-three.
BAKER’S DELIGHT
A ‘Midi’ pizza oven from Alfresco Wood Fired Pizza Ovens takes pride of place on a floating concrete bench (right & opposite). Alongside, an Electrolux slimline integrated barbecue extends the cooking capabilities, with plenty of prep space to serve up sides. To offset the benchtop’s sleek lines, recycled bricks and a wood store below add a rustic touch.
LIVING COLOUR
On a warm summer’s day, a cool drink and a slice of watermelon go down a treat after a dip in the pool. While Emma favours timeless grey as a base palette – as evidenced by the extensive use of bluestone throughout the garden and Dulux Colorbond Monument on the boundary fence – she embraces colour for accent pieces such as the rainbow selection of UV-resistant Acapulco-style chairs (find similar at Matt Blatt) and the pretty bamboo-derived cups (right). Browse a range of similar environmentally friendly tableware at Impact.