Bondi Balcony Garden

The brief

This long Bondi balcony needed privacy from close neighbours and an outdoor living space to entertain. The design gives it three uses with outdoor cooking, dining in the middle and a comfortable place to sit surrounded by greenery . 

Privacy planting runs along the black slatted balustrade, providing screening into the indoor lounge room. There is a sense of enclosure, yet the leafy outlook remains visible.

Furniture

A rectangular table with a concrete-look top is paired with four yellow woven chairs for a splash of colour. The yellow is repeated in the cylindrical pot at the far end, breaking up the main white and charcoal tones.

The barbecue sits within dark cabinetry close to the table, with another compact cabinet against the glazed wall.  

The dining furniture is perefctly scaled to allow easy access through to the lounge space.

Here, a white three-seat sofa sits in front of a custom made long planter trough. Featuring low maintenance coastal planting with an olive tree beside it. 

Two low, round white coffee tables create a relaxed outdoor feel. The black and white geometric outdoor rug beneath the sofa gives the space the feel of indoor/outdoor living.

Plants

The boldest move is the row of white rectangular planters. Bird of paradise (Strelitzia nicolai) rises above the dark balustrade, its broad tropical leaves providing a perfect privacy screen for this Bondi balcony garden. At its base, burgundy bromeliads provide a sharp colour contrast. The planting repetition provides a sense of design tailored to the space.

Next the lounge, the olive (Olea europaea) brings a finer, silvery canopy. Glossy upright foliage in the tall planter behind the sofa completes the layered backdrop. 

The planting changes scale along the balcony with generous and tropical beside the table leading to lower and more intimate near the outdoor lounge.