Ideas & past work
Outdoor living and seating ideas, Brisbane
Curved sandstone bench seats, sunken lawn circles and paved terraces — the part of the garden people actually sit in. 6 photographs.
How Duncan designs it
No two the same.
The outdoor living area is the part of the garden people actually sit in, so it has to be comfortable before it is clever. Somewhere with shade at the right time of day, a surface that drains, and seating built in so it does not need dragging out every weekend.
Duncan designs these spaces around how you want to use them — a big table for family lunches, a ring of seats round a fire, a sunken lounge you sink into after work. Built-in stone benches are often the answer. They double as retaining, they never blow over in a storm, and with cushions they are as comfortable as any outdoor setting. The curve, the height and the depth of the seat are worked out on paper first.
The six spaces below all share an idea and none of them share a design. One bench wraps a circle of lawn, one sits above a canal, one is a sunken lounge in sandstone crazy paving. Each was costed to the client’s budget, then built by the same person who designed it.
01Curved sandstone bench seatA curved sandstone bench seat with cushions, wrapped around a circle of lawn.
02Poolside table settingAn outdoor table setting on paving beside the pool, close enough to the water for long lunches.
03Bench against sleeper wallAn upholstered bench seat built against a hardwood sleeper retaining wall.
04Curved bench in the tropicsA curved stone bench set into paving and surrounded by layered tropical planting.
05Sunken lounge and crazy pavingA sunken lounge with a wrap-around bench, tangerine cushions and sandstone crazy paving.
06Curved bench on the waterA curved stone bench with blue cushions on a crazy-paved circle above the canal.
Next step
Like what you see? Make it yours.
None of these get built twice. Read how Duncan approaches stone walls and seating in Brisbane, or tell him about your own space.
Start here
Got a space that isn’t working?
Dayboro, Samford, Moreton Bay and across Brisbane’s inner north — Ashgrove, Grange, Nundah and surrounds.