Fire Pit Seating Area Design
See how this raised terrace provides a secluded spot for gathering around a fire
A video transcript featuring Joseph Huettl, Huettl Landscape Architecture
At the far end of the pool we wanted to create a destination terrace, a place that you have a sense of arrival and it's kind of unique from the rest of the yard. So what we wanted to do was create interest. Part of the way to do that was to raise it up above the rest of the patio, so we have a slight step here, a bluestone step, and then we have these backdrop panels of Corten steel. We use three panels partly because that's the size the Corten comes in for these individual panels, and it also created a nice rhythm of three pieces there. Behind the panels we have the backdrop of the Calamagrostis grasses that wave yellow and golden in the summertime and fall. We continued the bluestone bands through and up and over and through the terrace, and then on each side of this terrace, we have an L-shaped Ipe wood bench that frames a spot for a firepit.
Ipe benchesFor the ipe benches, we used steel posts and those allow the bench to float a little bit more off the ground. If you use a wood post, it's just heavier and it distracts and it has a limited lifespan. So with the steel post, it allows the bench to be a little more durable and to float a little more.
