Swimming pools can be polarising - they're great if you use them regularly and do not dominate a space making it unusable for any other activity.

When it came to our client's situation - neither of these statements rang true! With the kids now young adults and a very ugly and large pool dominating her outside space, Cath called us with a cry for help!

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As with any new Landscape Design enquiry, we spent a couple of hours on our initial site visit reviewing the site, getting to know the client and putting together a detailed Design Brief. It was clear, that Cath and her family never used the garden as it was and her main desire was to change that and make the most of the space.

After establishing some likes and dislikes we made suggestions on how to maximise the garden as it was clear we needed to transform the garden from a concrete jungle to a lush and verdant oasis, with a destination space for enjoying warm summers under the dappled light of feature trees and chilly winter evenings around a warming fire pit. The ability to cook and dine outside was essential aswell as making better use of an old garage that was never used, other than as storage space.

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The key challenge was what to do with the pool - total removal would have been a difficult and expensive exercise and we wanted to make Cath's budget work hard in creating a beautiful space rather than demolition works. Working with Interlock Construction we partially removed the majority of the above-ground elements of the pool and with engineer input, decided on infilling the remainder of the pool and creating the stunning space it is now.

A polished concrete 'arc' bench sits on a raised platform around a combined coffee table/fire pit and is cushioned by a varied selection of plants, shrubs and trees - in organic-shaped garden beds to compliment the arc of the bench created with Core-ten steel - that provide texture and interest as well as providing a nectar-rich source for pollinating bees and native birds. We also made sure targeted planting provided screening and created a sense of privacy and enclosure whilst in the garden.

After:

Interlock transformed the garage into a flexible office space that overlooks the garden along with constructing a new upstairs deck to make the most of the fantastic district and bay views along with a lower deck for enjoying the fare rustled up on the custom BBQ.

After:

"The garden Kev has designed is perfect for our family. From beginning to end, working with Kev was easy. He listened to what I wanted to do and delivered something far better. Kev has given the garden a beautiful texture and depth with his design and it has also made the house feel fresh again. I absolutely love my garden.I highly recommend Kev at Inovasis Design if you are in need of a garden designer " Cath - Concord Project

For more images and a video check out our Concord Project