Outdoor Living & Landscape

The backyard on a custom home isn't separate from the house, it's the part of the property that gets used every day the weather allows it, on the Lower Mainland's climate, that's more months than people expect once the space is actually designed to be usable. A covered deck, a properly engineered retaining wall, a fence that actually delivers privacy, a pool sited correctly on the lot, and lighting planned before the walls close, none of these are afterthoughts on a well-designed custom home. We plan them at the same table as the house.

Does Icon Projects design landscaping, or just the house?

We design the outdoor living elements that interact directly with the house's structure, permits, and site plan: decks, retaining walls, fencing, pool siting, and exterior lighting wiring. This is design-build coordination for the property as a whole, planned alongside the house rather than handed off as a separate landscaping project after construction finishes.

At what height does a retaining wall need a permit in Burnaby?

A retaining wall over 0.9 metres, about 3 feet, needs a building permit in Burnaby, the lowest threshold of any municipality in Metro Vancouver. Crossing that height also requires engineer-produced drawings as part of the permit application. We bring an engineer into the design as soon as a wall on a project looks like it will approach that height.

How far does a pool need to be from the property line in Burnaby?

An uncovered swimming pool must sit at least 3.0 metres from any property line in Burnaby and cannot be built within the required front yard. A covered or roofed pool follows the same setback provisions. We work this setback against the lot's actual dimensions early in design, since it affects how much usable pool area a given lot actually has.

What fence height is allowed on a Burnaby property?

A fence or wall up to 1.07 metres can generally be located anywhere on a Burnaby lot, while a taller fence up to 1.8 metres is only permitted to the rear of the required front yard. A fence sitting on top of a retaining wall follows its own additional height rule and can trigger its own building permit requirement.

When should I plan landscape lighting during a custom home build?

Landscape lighting wiring needs to be planned during electrical rough-in, before drywall closes and before a driveway or patio is poured over any conduit run. Deciding on fixture locations and the lighting layout at that stage avoids trenching through finished landscaping or lifting hardscaping later to add wiring.

Can outdoor living features be added after the main house is already built?

They can, but planning a pool, retaining wall, or major deck alongside the house's original site plan avoids conflicts between required setbacks, grade change, and features like the driveway or main entry that get fixed early in construction. We prefer to design outdoor living elements in the same pass as the house rather than as a separate later project.

Does a covered deck over living space need different detailing than an open deck?

Yes. A deck over heated space, a garage or a finished basement below, functions as part of the building envelope, and its waterproof membrane is inspected as an envelope assembly rather than a simple finish. We detail these decks with the same rigour as the rest of the building envelope, since a leak here falls under the building-envelope tier of the home warranty.

Why plan outdoor living elements with the home builder instead of a separate landscaper?

Retaining walls, fencing, pools, and decks all interact with the house's own site plan, structural engineering, and permit process in ways a landscaper working independently after construction can't always account for. Coordinating these elements through the same design and permit process as the house avoids bylaw conflicts and rework discovered after each contractor has already built their piece separately.