CABANA CAPERS

Giving you the ultimate alfresco lifestyle, a pert pergola or poolside cabana gives your space form and function

- John Storch

Visit any world-class holiday resort and you’re guaranteed to be surrounded by structures that fuse indoors and out. Luxury hotels know how to make the most of the gorgeous weather and boast wall-less lobbies, open walkways, and rooms that open out to swimming pools. Australia has a mild climate and we enjoy a warm summer, so it’s understandable that many are choosing to create a structure that allows them to embrace the outdoors in all weather conditions in their homes.

A cabana is a way to make your outdoor areas more functional with a space to enjoy in all weather conditions, dry off after a swim in the pool, cook, entertain and relax in. Contemporary design is one of my favourite and most commonly used design styles. We design a lot of contemporary cabanas, granny flats and outdoor rooms as these most often suit the properties that we’re working on.

The contemporary style is very popular and often requested by our clients, though we design other styles, too, and believe a good designer should be able to achieve any look. I like to design holistically and often the most appropriate design for integration is the style that best reflects the architecture of the property — although not in every circumstance.

Contemporary design is a design of the times; it is current and cutting-edge. It incorporates trends that come and go and can be very eclectic for that reason. It’s always changing and borrows from all eras, including modernism. To create an outdoor structure in the contemporary style, consider the following top 10 tips.

ONE

In cabana design, the contemporary style is recognisable by its clean-lined internal and external expansive planes for walls, windows, doors, floors and roofs. Walls are often white, adding to the spacious feel.