Small Yard, Big Pool — What's Actually Possible
Cathy Dillon'We don't think we've got enough space' is the opener on at least one phone call a week. Half the time, when we get out to the site, there's more room than the client realised.
If you're staring at a Brisbane back yard wondering whether a pool is even on the table, this is for you. Three real-world scenarios, three real outcomes.
The 60m² courtyard (Bulimba)
Inner-city block, two-storey Queenslander, tiny rear courtyard maybe 6m wide and 10m deep. The clients had been told by three other builders that nothing would fit.
What we built: a 5×3m Plunge Pool, frameless glass perimeter, travertine coping, hidden skimmer. The pool sits 1.5m off the back deck and leaves a 2m garden strip behind it.
Final footprint of the pool zone: about 35m². Looks like the courtyard was always meant for it.
The 90m² side return (New Farm)
Long narrow block, big established house, no back yard worth speaking of — but a 12m × 4m side run that the clients used as a sad rosebush graveyard.
What we built: a 9×3m Lap Pool running the full length of the side, with a step zone at the house end. Glass fence on the side facing the windows, garden screen on the boundary side. The whole space transformed from forgotten side return into the most-used part of the property.
The 50m² balcony (Kangaroo Point)
This one was a stretch. Apartment-style townhouse with a structural concrete podium — basically a balcony at first-floor level over a garage.
What we built: a 4×2.5m structurally supported plunge with a frameless glass surround. Custom design, lightweight pebble-crete, all loads engineered through the existing slab. Not a standard package — it cost well over $80K all in — but it's there, it works, and it gets used every weekend.
Five rules for tight spaces
From two decades of building in small yards, here's what actually matters.
1. Pool walls take less space than you think. A 200mm wall plus 1.2m fence setback (or less, depending on barrier design) is the only required perimeter. You don't need 2m all the way around.
2. Glass fencing buys you visual space. Frameless glass disappears. Aluminium pool fencing doesn't. On small sites the difference is huge.
3. Run the pool to a boundary if you can. Many courtyards can have the pool wall sit on or near the property line, with appropriate compliance. That alone often makes a small site workable.
4. Skip the spa. Small site, integrated spa, decent deck — you can have two of three, not all three. Most courtyard clients end up choosing the pool plus deck.
5. Access matters more than usable space. A tiny yard with an open side return is easier to build in than a generous yard you can only reach through the house.
What it costs to find out
Nothing. We come out, look at the space, measure the access, and tell you what's possible. If the answer is no, we'll tell you that too — we'd rather lose a quote than build something that won't work.
If you've been talking yourself out of a pool because of the yard, let us take a look before you decide. You'd be surprised how often the answer is yes.
— Cathy
