Shady Courtyard Retreat

A shady courtyard garden calls for a design with personality — and this one has it in abundance.

The clients' love of travel, cooking and gathering people together shaped the design here. Reclaimed quarry tiles from the original build were salvaged and extended to create a boldly patterned chequerboard centrepiece, anchoring an outdoor kitchen and BBQ area that feels as characterful as it does functional. It's a space designed to be cooked in, lingered over and thoroughly enjoyed.

Lush, exotic planting — tree ferns, palms, fig and architectural foliage — wraps the space in layers of green, evoking the well-travelled sensibility of its owner while thriving in the dappled shade of the courtyard.

Tucked away at the far end, a secluded bench offers something altogether quieter: a place to sit, breathe and look out over the boundary wall into the parkland beyond. That borrowed landscape — trees, sky, the sense of open space — transforms what might have been a hard boundary into a living backdrop.

Two moods, one garden. Convivial and contemplative in equal measure.