Location: Melbourne, Australia
Architect: COS Design
Photo: Patrick Redmond

In a hood as hip, chic and central as Melbourne’s Middle Park, not just any outdoor living space will do. It’s got too ooze urban sophistication. Which is exactly what this pool and spa area by COS Design does.

The project originally started out as an extension to a heritage Victorian home. For that job, the homeowners hired Pleysier Perkins Architects. The result is a beautifully proportioned, two-storey addition completely clad in Western Red Cedar. This meant by the time the COS Design team came on board for the landscaping portion, the clients were already quite familiar with nature’s most versatile material.

“They were the ones who pushed for the cedar with no hesitation from me,” recalls Steve Taylor, COS founder and owner. “Their brief was to create a show-stopping pool and spa in a very tight space – something that would be timeless, clean and cutting edge.”

So how did he reconcile those requirements?

“A black raised body of water creates a reflection-style water feature from all internal vistas,” explains Taylor. “The round wet edge spa and full wet edge pool is raised four feet out of the ground to ensure minimal pool fencing is required. The water softly runs down the face of the pool creating a calming ambiance to the space.”

And, as per request, Taylor incorporated some beautiful cedar into his innovative design. But instead of using the same shiplap profile that was used on the extension, he opted for a knotty tongue and groove system.

“It provides a minimalistic modern backdrop to the pool,” he says, “but at the same time it adds texture with the alternating gauges and depths.”

Plus, as Taylor points out, the knotty wood added some much needed warmth.

“On every level,” he says, “it is a very hard space and it needed some relief and soul. Cedar provided just that.”