A bench the water runs through
A cast seat with water running along its length, cantilevered at both ends, as the centrepiece of an otherwise deliberately spare garden in Toorak.
The brief
A spill edge has nowhere to hide
The client, an engineer, had designed the trough himself and had the detail resolved — which is rarer than it sounds and made for a good job. The demand sat in the execution: the water had to sit and move exactly as drawn, and the spill edge had to be true along its whole length.
Both ends were cantilevered, so the footings and the steel had to carry load well beyond the visible support. Any settlement or twist would show immediately in the water line.
The making
Formwork, steel, pour, finish
Footings sized for the cantilever, reinforcement detailed to the span, and formwork braced for the pressure of the pour. The finish was worked to hold a level edge along the full run.
The detail
Where the water meets the edge
A spill edge is the least forgiving detail in this kind of work. Out by a millimetre across the run and the water sheets unevenly — visible from the far end of the garden, every day, forever.
Outcome
What it delivered
Won on the work
The enquiry came in directly, most likely off the website.
The garden centrepiece
Minimal landscape, with the piece carrying the whole space.
Signed off on the water
The spill running true along the full length.
Got something like this coming up?
Send through the drawings or the concept and we will tell you what it takes.