A Gazebo That Deserved a Second Look

The Ask

When the client first got in touch, they were convinced they needed a whole new gazebo. The rains had wrecked the old one, and from the pictures they sent, it looked like the only sensible thing to do was start again.

The Discovery

Before suggesting anything, we visited the site to see it for ourselves, and that visit turned out to matter more than the photos. The structure was still in great shape. What had really taken the hit was the roof and the curtains, which meant the problem was far smaller than it first appeared.

The Call

Rather than telling the client to throw everything away and begin from scratch, we asked ourselves a simpler question: why not work with what already exists? A sound frame was still standing there, and it made more sense to build on it than to replace it.

The Design

With the existing structure as our starting point, we created a few design options around the frame and thought through what would actually work in the space. Once we had narrowed it down, we landed on one, and the client loved it straight away.

The Build

Then came the part we enjoy most, which is production. Piece by piece and join by join, the new design began coming together on the old frame, until the gazebo that had been written off finally looked like itself again.

The Result

The final gazebo has a completely fresh look, yet it stands on the same structure as before. It looks better than what it replaced, it costs less than a full rebuild would have, and it keeps perfectly good material from going to waste.