Ideas & past work
Water feature and fire pit ideas, Brisbane
Ponds, stone water walls, fountains, fire bowls set into black pebble, and lighting designed into the stone from the start. 19 photographs.
How Duncan designs it
No two the same.
Water and fire are the elements people remember about a garden. The sound of a spout from the back door, a fire bowl lit on a cool night, a stone wall uplit after dark — that is what turns a yard into somewhere you stay outside in.
Duncan designs these as the centrepiece of a space, not an extra. A water feature is placed where you will hear it from inside as well as see it. Fire bowls and pits are set with seating at a comfortable distance and a surface that will not mind the heat. Lighting is planned with the stone, so the cabling is hidden and the wall reads properly at night. His Certificate in Commercial Art shows most in this work, where proportion and finish are everything.
No two of the features below are the same, and they were never meant to be. A honed black water blade, a bamboo spout into a stone bowl, a dry creek running down to a pond, a fire bowl in black pebble — every one was drawn to its site and its budget, then built by the person who drew it.
01Black stone water bladeA honed black stone water blade spills a clear sheet into a pool edged with tropical planting.
02Natural pond and water plantsA natural rock pond with water hyacinth and lily pads, fed by a spill over weathered driftwood.
03Lit copper water bowlA copper water bowl with a sculptural fountain, lit so it works as well at night.
04Stone water wallA stacked stone water wall spilling through three spouts into a pool.
05Fire bowl, pebble and benchA fire bowl set in black pebble beside a floating bench and stone wall.
06Fire pit and curved seatingA crazy-paved fire pit circle enclosed by a curved sandstone bench seat.
07Lit stone wall and benchA sandstone wall uplit at night above a cantilevered stone bench.
08Lit wall and curved pathWarm uplighting on a natural stone wall beside a curving pale path.
09Stepping stones and screens at nightRound stepping stones and decorative screening, lit for the walk through at night.
10Fire bowl at nightA fire bowl burning beside round stepping stones and new planting.
11Lit crazy paved stairsCrazy-paved garden stairs with bollard lighting, climbing between planting.
12Water spilling to a bowlWater spilling from a spout into a stone bowl — a small feature you hear before you see.
13Water bowl and stoneA dark water bowl set among sandstone boulders and planting.
14Dry creek bedA dry creek bed of river stone and boulders that carries storm water through the planting.
15Bird bath in new plantingA stone bird bath set in a freshly planted garden bed.
16Formal reflecting poolA formal black reflecting pool with fountain jets, lit at dusk.
17Courtyard water rillsTwin water rills spout between concrete stepping slabs and river stone in a bamboo-screened courtyard.
18Stone bowl and bamboo spoutA bamboo spout trickling into a weathered stone bowl on basalt steps and river pebble.
19Dry creek bed and pondSandstone boulders and river pebble form a dry creek bed running down into a still pond.
Next step
Like what you see? Make it yours.
None of these get built twice. Read how Duncan approaches water and fire features in Brisbane, or tell him about your own space.
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Got a space that isn’t working?
Dayboro, Samford, Moreton Bay and across Brisbane’s inner north — Ashgrove, Grange, Nundah and surrounds.