A pool is a fair-weather asset in the Southern Highlands, useful for a handful of warm weeks each summer and idle, draining money quietly, for the rest of the year. A fire pit or outdoor room built into that same footprint flips the equation: it’s most useful precisely when the Highlands climate is at its most distinctive, cold, clear nights from autumn through to early spring, when a pool would sit covered and unused. This guide looks at how to plan a fire pit or outdoor entertaining room over a removed pool, what the ground needs before you build on it, and the practical considerations specific to a cool-climate Highlands backyard.
Why This Conversion Suits the Highlands Climate
Most post-pool landscaping guides focus on gardens and lawns, understandably, since the Southern Highlands is exceptional growing country. But the region’s climate also makes it one of the best parts of NSW for outdoor fire and all-season entertaining. Cold nights that would be uncomfortable on the coast are the Highlands’ calling card, frosty mornings, crisp evenings, wood smoke drifting across a Bowral or Moss Vale garden in May. A well-designed fire pit or covered outdoor room extends genuinely comfortable outdoor use across autumn, winter and spring, seasons a pool never served.
Where a formal lawn or kitchen garden (covered in our landscaping ideas guide) makes the most of the Highlands’ growing conditions, a fire pit and outdoor room makes the most of its climate for people, rather than plants. Many Highlands homeowners end up combining both: garden beds around the perimeter of the old pool footprint, with a paved fire pit or entertaining zone as the centrepiece.
Starting Point: What the Ground Needs First
Before any fire feature or paved area goes in, the backfilled pool void needs to be properly prepared. This matters more here than it does for a lawn or garden bed, because a fire pit, retaining wall, pergola footing or paved area puts a more concentrated, static load on the ground than foot traffic or plant roots ever will.
Compaction is the critical factor. A void that’s been backfilled and compacted to a standard suitable for lawn (typically 90-93% standard Proctor) is not automatically suitable for a paved entertaining area or a built structure, which generally needs 93-98% compaction depending on what’s going on top. If you’re planning this kind of conversion, it’s worth flagging your intentions before the backfill stage of your pool removal, since specifying the right compaction standard and testing regime at that point is far cheaper than remediating settled ground later. Our pool excavation and backfill service covers what proper compaction involves and the standards required for different future uses.
Settlement risk. Even well-compacted fill can experience minor settlement, typically 10-20mm, in the first wet season as moisture redistributes through the profile. For a lawn, this is invisible. For a paved fire pit surround or a structure with footings, it can show up as cracking or unevenness if not accounted for in the design. A landscaper or builder working over a filled pool footprint should know to check the compaction documentation, if it exists, before finalising a hard-surface design.
If you didn’t get compaction testing done at the time of removal, it’s not necessarily a problem, but it’s worth having the ground assessed before committing to a permanent structure, particularly anything larger than a simple portable or in-ground fire pit.
Fire Pit Options for a Former Pool Footprint
Simple in-ground or surface-mounted fire pit. A circular or square pit, lined with steel, firebrick or stone, set into a paved or gravelled surround. This is the lowest-cost, lowest-complexity option and works well as a standalone feature within a broader garden design, sitting comfortably on a standard compacted lawn-grade fill with a simple paved base beneath the pit itself.
Built-in fire pit with seating wall. A more substantial design, typically a low stone, block or rendered masonry ring incorporating built-in bench seating, works well as the anchor of a larger outdoor room. Because this involves more masonry weight and a larger paved footprint, it benefits from the higher compaction standard mentioned above.
Freestanding steel fire bowl or chiminea. The simplest option of all, requiring no permanent footing, just a stable, non-combustible base. This is a sensible interim solution if you want to enjoy the space immediately after pool removal while planning a more permanent design for later.
Gas-fired fire pit or fire table. Popular for convenience and lower ember/smoke output, particularly useful on total fire ban days when open wood fires may not be permitted. Requires a gas line, so plan this early if you’re coordinating with other trades.
Building the Outdoor Room Around It
A fire pit alone extends outdoor use into cooler evenings; a properly considered outdoor room extends it much further:
Overhead shelter. A pergola, gazebo or covered alfresco structure shelters the space from Highlands wind, frost and rain, letting the fire feature be used comfortably even in less-than-ideal weather. Combine with clear annexe blinds or a fixed glass wind-break on the exposed side for genuine year-round comfort.
Retaining and level changes. Where the pool sat at a different level to the rest of the yard, or where you want to define the entertaining zone with a change in level, a low retaining wall built on properly compacted fill creates a defined “room” within the garden rather than a flat, undifferentiated space.
Planting for microclimate. A windbreak hedge or espaliered planting along the exposed side of the fire pit area makes a real difference to comfort on a cold Highlands evening. Our what to grow after pool removal guide covers structural hedging and evergreen options suited to the Highlands climate that double as a windbreak.
Lighting. Low-voltage garden lighting or a simple pendant over the seating area extends the usability of the space well past dusk, which in the Highlands’ long winter evenings is most of the time you’d want to use it.
Fire Safety and Setback Basics
Before installing any fire feature, check your obligations with Wingecarribee Council and, where relevant, the NSW Rural Fire Service, particularly if your property is on bushfire-prone land or in a rural setting. General considerations to be aware of:
- Total fire ban days restrict or prohibit open solid-fuel fires; a gas-fired option avoids this restriction on affected days
- Reasonable clearance from fences, structures, overhanging trees and neighbouring properties is standard practice for any fire feature
- Some properties, particularly larger rural blocks, may have specific bushfire management requirements that affect where a permanent fire feature can be sited
We recommend confirming the current rules for your specific property before finalising a design, rather than assuming a design seen elsewhere will automatically comply.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I build a fire pit directly over the compacted pool backfill without extra work? For a simple, lightweight fire pit and gravel or paved surround, standard lawn-grade compaction is often sufficient. For anything heavier, a built seating wall, a paved entertaining area, or a covered structure with footings, it’s worth having the compaction standard confirmed or upgraded first. This is far easier to specify at the time of pool removal than to fix afterwards.
Is a fire pit a good option if I still want some garden space too? Yes, this is one of the most common outcomes. Many Highlands homeowners use part of the old pool footprint for a paved fire pit and seating area and the rest for garden beds, lawn or productive planting, effectively getting both benefits from the reclaimed space.
Do I need council approval for a fire pit or outdoor room? Requirements vary depending on the structure. A simple portable or in-ground fire pit generally doesn’t need approval, but a permanent roofed structure, retaining wall or larger built feature may fall under different rules. Confirm with Wingecarribee Council before building anything permanent.
What’s the most cold-climate-friendly design for a Highlands backyard? A combination of overhead shelter (to cut wind and frost), a fire feature (wood-burning or gas), and a wind-break of hedging or planting on the exposed side gives the most genuinely usable space across the coldest months, rather than relying on the fire feature alone.
Planning what comes next for your pool site? Talk to us about backfill and compaction specified for your future plans.