Contemporary Patio with a Water Feature Ideas and Designs
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The Garden Artist LLCWater cascading down stacked stones cools the sitting and dining areas and adds a soothing water background. In winter, when water is turned off, this water feature doubles as a sculpture.
Austin Outdoor Living GroupAustin Outdoor Living Group
This is an example of a large contemporary back patio in Austin with a water feature, decking and a pergola.
This is an example of a large contemporary back patio in Austin with a water feature, decking and a pergola.
Creative Atmospheres, Inc.Inspiration for a contemporary patio in Orange County with a water feature.
Huettl Landscape ArchitecturePatio shaded by steel and redwood arbor with water feature.
Inspiration for a contemporary patio in San Francisco with a pergola and a water feature.
Inspiration for a contemporary patio in San Francisco with a pergola and a water feature.
Echinops Garden DesignPhoto of a medium sized contemporary back patio in London with a water feature, tiled flooring and no cover.
Cascade Outdoor DesignSmall spaces can provide big challenges. These homeowners wanted to include a lot in their tiny backyard! There were also numerous city restrictions to comply with, and elevations to contend with. The design includes several seating areas, a fire feature that can be seen from the home's front entry, a water wall, and retractable screens.
This was a "design only" project. Installation was coordinated by the homeowner and completed by others.
Photos copyright Cascade Outdoor Design, LLC
BUILD@Amber Frederiksen Photography
Design ideas for a large contemporary back patio in Miami with a water feature, decking and a roof extension.
Design ideas for a large contemporary back patio in Miami with a water feature, decking and a roof extension.
Ryan Hughes DesignSheer rain descent waterfall adds interest and creativity to the outdoor living space.
Photo of a medium sized contemporary back patio in Tampa with a water feature and natural stone paving.
Photo of a medium sized contemporary back patio in Tampa with a water feature and natural stone paving.
Dayspring Landscape DesignThis tiered garden drops 5' in elevation over its 40' depth. To provide a large outdoor entertaining space, tiered patio spaces were created, and surrounded with glass railings to maintain a wide open appeal. The antique brick of the house was matched in the planter walls and then steel beams and cladding were added to create a contemporary industrial feel. A small green space in the bottom of the garden is surrounded by a Beech hedge and features a water weir. Artificial sod was used to surface this heavily shaded space under a canopy of century oaks.
Exterior Worlds Landscaping & DesignThis shade arbor, located in The Woodlands, TX north of Houston, spans the entire length of the back yard. It combines a number of elements with custom structures that were constructed to emulate specific aspects of a Zen garden. The homeowner wanted a low-maintenance garden whose beauty could withstand the tough seasonal weather that strikes the area at various times of the year. He also desired a mood-altering aesthetic that would relax the senses and calm the mind. Most importantly, he wanted this meditative environment completely shielded from the outside world so he could find serenity in total privacy.
The most unique design element in this entire project is the roof of the shade arbor itself. It features a “negative space” leaf pattern that was designed in a software suite and cut out of the metal with a water jet cutter. Each form in the pattern is loosely suggestive of either a leaf, or a cluster of leaves.
These small, negative spaces cut from the metal are the source of the structure’ powerful visual and emotional impact. During the day, sunlight shines down and highlights columns, furniture, plantings, and gravel with a blend of dappling and shade that make you feel like you are sitting under the branches of a tree.
At night, the effects are even more brilliant. Skillfully concealed lights mounted on the trusses reflect off the steel in places, while in other places they penetrate the negative spaces, cascading brilliant patterns of ambient light down on vegetation, hardscape, and water alike.
The shade arbor shelters two gravel patios that are almost identical in space. The patio closest to the living room features a mini outdoor dining room, replete with tables and chairs. The patio is ornamented with a blend of ornamental grass, a small human figurine sculpture, and mid-level impact ground cover.
Gravel was chosen as the preferred hardscape material because of its Zen-like connotations. It is also remarkably soft to walk on, helping to set the mood for a relaxed afternoon in the dappled shade of gently filtered sunlight.
The second patio, spaced 15 feet away from the first, resides adjacent to the home at the opposite end of the shade arbor. Like its twin, it is also ornamented with ground cover borders, ornamental grasses, and a large urn identical to the first. Seating here is even more private and contemplative. Instead of a table and chairs, there is a large decorative concrete bench cut in the shape of a giant four-leaf clover.
Spanning the distance between these two patios, a bluestone walkway connects the two spaces. Along the way, its borders are punctuated in places by low-level ornamental grasses, a large flowering bush, another sculpture in the form of human faces, and foxtail ferns that spring up from a spread of river rock that punctuates the ends of the walkway.
The meditative quality of the shade arbor is reinforced by two special features. The first of these is a disappearing fountain that flows from the top of a large vertical stone embedded like a monolith in the other edges of the river rock. The drains and pumps to this fountain are carefully concealed underneath the covering of smooth stones, and the sound of the water is only barely perceptible, as if it is trying to force you to let go of your thoughts to hear it.
A large piece of core-10 steel, which is deliberately intended to rust quickly, rises up like an arced wall from behind the fountain stone. The dark color of the metal helps the casual viewer catch just a glimpse of light reflecting off the slow trickle of water that runs down the side of the stone into the river rock bed.
To complete the quiet moment that the shade arbor is intended to invoke, a thick wall of cypress trees rises up on all sides of the yard, completely shutting out the disturbances of the world with a comforting wall of living greenery that comforts the thoughts and emotions.
Grounded - Richard Risner RLA, ASLAGrounded - Modern Landscape Architecture
Inspiration for a contemporary patio in San Diego with a water feature.
Inspiration for a contemporary patio in San Diego with a water feature.
ArchitecTor, PCNestled in its own private and gated 10 acre hidden canyon this spectacular home offers serenity and tranquility with million dollar views of the valley beyond. Walls of glass bring the beautiful desert surroundings into every room of this 7500 SF luxurious retreat. Thompson photographic
Change of Seasons - Gary KernickThe homeowners on this project wanted multiple functional spaces in their back yard -this is the new outdoor living room complete with a water wall installed for privacy as well as a dramatic focal point.
Landscape And Architectural Design Products PLDevine Homes
Contemporary patio in Melbourne with a pergola, a water feature and decking.
Contemporary patio in Melbourne with a pergola, a water feature and decking.
RMS MarbleThis is an example of a small contemporary back patio in Sydney with a water feature, concrete slabs and a roof extension.
SED DesignThis is an example of a small contemporary back patio in Philadelphia with a water feature, brick paving and a pergola.
OSADA DESIGNOne-point perspective (dating back to Renaissance design) was used to create a strong visual effect. The overlapping of "semi-transparent-shapes" in the form of Birch, Oak and Honey Locust trees, draws the onlooker's gaze up the garden (like a stage set - low in the foreground and "climbing - level by level") into the distance.
The dynamic use of water adds impact and dramatic perspective : The reflective pond, an impressive central element - cuts it's way through the levels of the garden, providing continuity, tranquility and calming sound. Water bubbles-up from its source at the highest level (midway in the garden) running "downstream" towards the main living area - the heart of the house, creating an air of serenity.
A sense of flow is achieved through the use of a sequence of cascades, utilising and enhancing the changes in level within the garden.
Photography : Steven Wooster
Savvy Design GroupMichael Jacob
Design ideas for a contemporary back patio in St Louis with a water feature, a roof extension and concrete slabs.
Design ideas for a contemporary back patio in St Louis with a water feature, a roof extension and concrete slabs.
Plantenance Landscape GroupPhoto of a small contemporary back patio in Montreal with a water feature, brick paving and a pergola.
Contemporary Patio with a Water Feature Ideas and Designs
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