LANDSCAPE OF THE YEAR AWARDS ENTRANT QLD
A tropical pant-filled retreat designed to afford the family a resort-style, holiday-at-home experience
Australia’s love affair with Bali shows no signs of waning. Not only does it continue to be a favourite summer holiday destination, the island’s luxuriant gardens are a constant source of inspiration for Australian homeowners eager to recreate a little Bali magic in their own backyards.
This lushly planted Queensland garden — a classic Balinese-style tropical design with a modern twist — is a case in point. Designed by multi-award-winning landscape designer Noel Brown, Director of Bioscapes Gold Coast, this is an evocative and colourful garden that captures the joyous spirit of the Balinese while perfectly catering to the way Australians like to entertain outdoors.
“The owners are huge fans of Balinese garden design and had travelled to Bali on a great many occasions,” says Noel. “Creating a super-lush, Balinese-inspired tropical garden with a well-established look was the goal. The garden was to include several strategically placed focal points, including hand-carved greenstone statues imported from Bali.
“The owners also requested a free-form, naturally-shaped swimming pool with as few straight lines as possible. In designing the pool, it was also imperative that it would mould perfectly into the property’s corner boundary, and the liberal use of curves made this task all the easier.”
Curved and organic forms flow with ease throughout the pool area and gardens. They can be seen in the rounded fence backdrop, the pool edge and the spa, along with the inviting limestone pathways.
Private and secluded, the pool area is the jewel in the garden’s crown. “On the bottom of the pool, we used slumped glass to create a motif of a pink hibiscus with five petals. This work of art is unique and contrasts beautifully with the turquoise hue of the pool’s glass bead pebble interior,” says Noel. This is not the only focal point pool users can enjoy, however, with five greenstone Balinese statues carefully placed around the garden to catch the eye and accent the design.
“The beach entry to the pool, where children play and adults lay around relaxing in the shade provided by the over-hanging coconut palms, creates a resort-style vibe and the feeling you are on a full-time holiday,” adds Noel. “What’s more, the raised gas-heated circular spa was perfectly positioned to provide uninterrupted views of the Gold Coast skyline.”
Considerable thought went into the layout of the pool and spa zone. Tucked behind the spa is an outdoor shower, the support structure of which features lava stone inlays. All the pool equipment, including the pump, is located under a suspended limestone deck. This ensures that there will be no noise to detract from the soothing sounds of the pool’s bamboo spitter water features.
“The glass pool fence under the roof of the poolside gazebo has been cleverly disguised as a bar by using a large kwila bar top. This takes the emphasis off it being a compliant pool fence,” says Noel. “This can be used when entertaining or as a place to enjoy a casual meal while soaking up the views of the pool and garden areas.”
To ensure the gardens looked as well-established as possible, Noel hand- selected a number of advanced palms — two curved coconut palms, two kentia palms and an impressive Canary Island date palm, which were so large they had to be craned in over the fences.
“These were integral components of the design, creating instant shade and providing filtered light which allowed me to introduce some beautiful broadleafed and colourful understorey sections using plants such as cordylines, heliconias, Canna lillies, gingers, and bromeliads,” explains Noel.
The planting works in total accord with the natural textures and earthy hues of the hardscaping materials, including the spotted gum timber used for the decking, and the Western Australian limestone tiles used in the entertaining area.
“There’s also the stone cladding on the pool feature wall. For this I used black granite rocks I sourced and hand-picked from western Queensland, and then manufactured into cladding on-site,” adds Noel. “We also used some beautiful weathered granite boulders, which we had to cut to fit, along the pool edge and as a seat on the floor of the pool in the beach entry. The flamed basalt pool and spa coping, pool stairs, and spa seat were also custom-manufactured on-site.”
For night-time illumination, an extensive range of Aqualux lighting was installed throughout the pool area and garden beds. Says Noel: “All feature palms have warm-white garden spikes, the bamboo screening has green garden spikes, and amber lenses have been used on all statues. Two-toned fairy lights in cool-white and warm-white add to the ambience and the entire lighting system is operated via iPhone.”
Enhancing the holiday vibe, there is a weatherproof outdoor Bose stereo system, installed by Big Picture People, and furniture from Boyd Blue’s Skyline range of outdoor UV-resistant lounges and daybeds.
In Noel’s expert hands, an enticing and evocative resort-style retreat has been created — one that captures the endless beauty and tranquillity of Bali.
Contact Details
Landscape/Pool Design & Construction: Bioscapes Gold Coast
Mobile 0413 127 890
Email noelbrown@bioscapes.com.au
Photography by Clinton Black & John Downs
