Region: Eastern Suburbs

Our long-term maintenance clients approached us to transform their immaculate but underused lawn into a private Maroubra pool retreat. We designed the garden around a floating pool and spa, framed by lush greenery to create a strong sense of seclusion, with an alfresco space made for relaxed everyday entertaining.

The result is “Secluded Gem”: an award-winning garden design centred around a floating pool and spa, lush greenery, and a stylish outdoor entertainment area.

Our Vision

From the outset, our goal was to deliver a space that felt sophisticated yet welcoming. We created multiple “zones” for swimming, dining, and relaxing, while ensuring every angle showcased greenery and detail.

Floating Pool & Integrated Spa

• A floating pool and spa form the centrepiece of the garden.
• Concrete floating steps and stone cladding soften transitions into the surrounding plants.
• The pool is framed by lush planting to ensure privacy and tranquillity.

Materials, Light & Texture

• Vertical timber walls and natural stone finishes create warmth and depth.
• Durable porcelain tiles mimic timber, offering a sleek, modern look.
• A pergola with downlights enhances the atmosphere for evening swims and late-night gatherings.

Planting & Privacy

We retained much of the existing Lilly Pilly hedge to provide privacy, and layered in a mix of native and exotic plant species. This planting palette was selected to thrive in Maroubra’s coastal climate and sandy-loam soil, adding texture, seasonal colour, and low-maintenance beauty.

Outdoor Entertaining

The alfresco dining zone is designed for effortless entertaining. With custom bench seating, a pergola for shade and light, and seamless indoor-outdoor flow, it’s a space that works all year round.

GOLD AWARD: 2021 The Landscape Excellence Awards – Residential Design over 200sqm

GOLD AWARD: 2021 The Landscape Excellence Awards – Residential Construction $150K-$300K

GOLD AWARD: 2022 LDI Design Awards – Residential Landscape Design (Mid Size)

BEST IN CATEGORY AWARD: 2021 The Landscape Excellence Awards – Residential Construction $150K-$300K

• Landscape & Pool Design and Construction by Growing Rooms Landscapes

Rear Garden – Resort-Style Pool & Cabana in Dover Heights

At the heart of this Dover Heights landscape design, the rear garden features a resort-style in-ground pool and a pool cabana—perfect for entertaining family and friends. Designed with teenagers in mind, the cabana includes convenient bathroom and kitchen facilities, a BBQ area, and generous lounging zones for relaxation, sunbathing, and social gatherings. Steps leading from the house have been reimagined to merge functionality with refined aesthetics.
Carefully selected plantings thrive in Sydney’s coastal climate, ensuring privacy, minimal maintenance, and year-round greenery. Premium Technifirma paving, supplied by Eco Outdoor, was chosen for its durability and timeless beauty, tying the pool and garden spaces together. Natural and ethically sourced materials complete the design, blending seamlessly with the home and its surroundings in Dover Heights, Vaucluse, Rose Bay, and beyond.

Front Garden – Elevated Street Appeal in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs

In Dover Heights, one of Sydney’s most prestigious Eastern Suburbs, street appeal is essential. Our design elevates the property’s frontage with a translucent fence, modern gates, a glass-covered gatehouse, and an electrically operated sectional lift garage door. The lush front garden complements the home’s architecture while enhancing security and creating a welcoming entrance. To complete the look, we used matching premium paving, ensuring a cohesive finish between the front and rear garden spaces. The result is an entrance that balances sophistication, privacy, and coastal charm.

Side Passageway – Seamless Garden Flow & Design

The side passageway seamlessly links the front and rear gardens. Framed by striking metal arbours and enhanced with subtle lighting, this space creates a sense of transition and flow. The pathway design balances functionality with elegance, reflecting the refined landscaping styles seen across Sydney’s Eastern suburbs. Here we continued the same premium stone paving used in the rear and front gardens, introducing darker accents for contrast and definition, for a consistent, high-quality finish throughout the property.

Lighting – Night-Time Elegance for Coastal Living

Outdoor lighting is thoughtfully integrated to enrich the ambience and safety of this Dover Heights garden. LED pathway lights, spotlights, and ambient fixtures, supplied by our friends at Gardens at Night, highlight architectural features and plantings, ensuring the property can be enjoyed day and night. The lighting design responds to the clifftop location, adding warmth and atmosphere to the outdoor living experience.

Award-Winning Dover Heights Landscape Project

Our Dover Heights project has won multiple awards for landscape design and construction, including:

GOLD AWARD: 2023 The Landscape Excellence Awards – Residential Design over 200sqm

GOLD AWARD: 2023 The Landscape Excellence Awards – Residential Construction over $600K

SILVER AWARD: 2023 LDI Design Awards – Plantscape: Small, Mid or Large Residential Garden

SILVER AWARD: 2023 LDI Design Awards – Residential Design: Mid/Large Garden

Create Your Own Outdoor Sanctuary

Thinking of transforming your own outdoor space in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs? We’d love to talk through what’s possible for your home.

Get in touch today to start designing your Sydney Eastern Suburbs sanctuary.

When the clients bought their new forever home in Clovelly, they came to us for a complete redesign of the front and rear gardens.

The approach to the front design was to re-configure the front entry to improve the sense of arrival at the property. To soften the formality of the new white picket fence, we introduced crazy-paved stepping stones with low groundcover planting, including Viola and Dichondra repens, to ease the lines and create a more relaxed garden entry. Mixed mass planting with accent plants creates textural variation and interest. The bench provides a quiet spot away from the hustle and bustle.

In the rear garden we designed a new ‘floating’ pool with a deck area and custom-built bench seating to relax and unwind.

To maximise the usability of the entertainment space all year round the design incorporates a fixed roof complete with fan, heating and subtle downlights. The custom-built storage unit with a built-in barbecue is topped with a polished ‘Basalt’ benchtop to match the interior in the adjoining kitchen.
The clients asked for the new design to blur the transition between inside and outside spaces. We complemented the white and grey themes present in the kitchen whilst considering hard materials for the front and rear gardens. In addition, the timber choices outside complement the interior flooring. By using this neutral palette, the design emphasises the blues of the pool and greens of the planting and creates a vibrant contemporary space.

The plants selected for the rear garden achieve a balance between function and aesthetics, ensuring sufficient privacy and screening without sacrificing valuable space. The design leans towards a more formal planting style, with some tropical/sculptural elements – using primarily green tones with a focus on varying textures and forms.

Our clients are very pleased with their new garden and the whole family enjoys the different spaces.

GOLD AWARD: 2022 LDI Design Awards – Residential Landscape Design – Mid Size

SILVER AWARD: 2021 The Landscape Excellence Awards – Residential Construction $150K-$300K

BRONZE AWARD: 2021 The Landscape Excellence Awards – Residential Design 80sqm-200sqm