Give yourself a sporting chance

The ability to work on your sporting prowess could be closer to home than you think; in fact you might not even have to leave home if the yard is kitted out with the right set-up and equipment.

Zorzi Design Manager Brenden Cook said sporting facilities at home benefited both the parents and children.

“For parents, it allows for a safe and monitored space for children to practise their sports,” he said. “For the children, it’s never been easier to get practice in and invite friends over to compete or play.

“It’s also been on the radar with lockdowns and isolating periods. Having the ability to train at home, if unable to travel, has been very attractive to those now building.”

Weststyle Managing Director Tony Ricciardello said having the space to get outdoors with the kids had a huge impact on physical and mental health.

“The positive effects of physical exercise have been proven over and over again,” he said.

“It helps our brain function, muscle and bone strength, and being able to do this in your own backyard strengthens the family unit.”

According to Mr Cook, spatial planning is the starting point for the sporting installations.

“All sporting pursuits have specific play areas and a preferred bordering space for ease of play,” he said.

“We start with the sporting parameters the client would like to satisfy and then look at how best to incorporate these needs with the size and orientation of the block, with view corridors and considerations for access, and noise, as well as companion functions like landscaping, outdoor lighting, heating, cooling and audio capacity.”

Mr Ricciardello said if you had a large flat backyard, planning sporting zones would be easier, but if you had limited space, you needed to be more creative and flexible.

“Hard flat surfaces can service sports such as basketball, netball, handball and even tennis,” he said. “Most families will already have a hard flat surface in their home – their driveway.

“It is common to see this driveway space extended and properly planned to double as a sporting area.

“The other external ground surface is grass. Planned out well with surrounding fencing, this can service a number of other sports and activities.

“Consider the fencing and walls around the grass to make sure they can withstand constant contact from sporting equipment such as soccer or hockey balls.”

Weststyle designed and built a home in City Beach that embraces an active lifestyle in the design of its outdoor spaces.

“Following the lines of the house, the outdoor area wraps around the side and front of the home with a variety of sporting elements and entertaining spaces,” Mr Ricciardello said.

“At the front of the property sits a space equivalent to a golfing green, complete with four practice holes with flags – a stunning spot to perfect your short game.

“Adjacent to this is a basketball training space with a hoop and backboard, which is protected from the elements and the street with high curving rendered walls on either side.

“The space is highlighted with bright blue paint onto smooth concrete for the perfect surface to shoot hoops.”

Often desiring custom pool sizes for lane swimming and basketball courts, Mr Cook said Zorzi’s clients had incorporated various features in their designs to support active living.

“The Residence in Mount Pleasant has one of the largest pools we have done to date, while our custom build in South Perth utilises Dream Courts Elite Pro II flooring technology – a surface that limits noise and prevents injury,” he said.

CONTACT

Zorzi, 9382 4880, www.zorzi.com.au

Weststyle, 9345 1565, www.weststyle.com.au