A well-equipped contemporary cabana was the pièce de résistance in this integrated backyard design
Senior designer at A Total Concept, Shaun Wright, has created a space for the owners of this Sydney property that incorporates everything a family could want for both day-to-day living and weekend socialising with friends. “We wanted to create ‘a total concept’ — a contemporary resort, incorporating a swimming pool and cabana with a lawn and gardens, together with upgrading the elevations of the home,” says Shaun.
The entire project has been designed in a contemporary style with simple, clean lines to totally integrate the home with the pool, cabana and garden area. The rear of the property looked outward onto a bushland reserve but had little privacy from adjacent neighbours, so a formal hedge garden was planted around the perimeter. This has created a concealed space in which Shaun was able to develop a stunning outlook to the pool and cabana from the kitchen and living areas of the home, day and night.
The large pool steps and extensive underwater benches act as a safe haven for younger children and double as informal seats within the pool. A heated spa provides the perfect warm place for parents to chat and supervise while their children swim laps. Contemporary sandstone-patterned porcelain paving in the poolside areas, cabana and verandah creates a seamless link between all spaces.
The paving contrasts beautifully with the colour of the fully tiled pool — a sedate turquoise during the day, intended to blend with the garden, which changes to a brilliant blue feature at night due to the use of coloured light lenses. A surrounding detailed sandstone feature wall laid in a butt-jointed square ashlar pattern, together with hand-carved water-cascading sandstone spouts, doubles as a pool safety fence.
In the poolside cabana, fans keep temperatures cool in summer and the ceiling incorporates speakers and LCD gimbal lighting. Seasoned second-hand bridge timbers were used in the construction of the cabana and upgrading of the home to ensure seamless integration.
The cabana kitchen has been designed with the owner’s love of entertaining and cooking in mind. It features intricate built-in cabinetry, a Caesarstone benchtop with waterfall edges, under-mount sink, stainless-steel fridges, DishDrawer dishwasher, eight-burner barbecue and wok burner.
At night, the swimming pool is well lit by energy-efficient LED lights, with both concealed strip lighting and LED downlighting in the cabana. A quality internal, external and in-pool sound system, together with all electrical components such as lights, irrigation plus swimming pool heater and lights, are linked to the property’s smart electrical switching system for ease of use.
This project, designed and project-managed by A Total Concept Landscape Architects + Swimming Pool Designers, integrates the home, cabana, pool, lawn and gardens seamlessly to create a stunning space that exudes the perfect holiday-at-home atmosphere for family fun and entertaining, as well as providing a private retreat for escaping the stresses of work at the end of the day.
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