Summer can sometimes feel short and sweet. So don’t let a little thing like a slight drop in the temperature stop you from enjoying your outdoor living space. Make the most of your backyard sanctuary all year long with one of these modern fire pit designs. Imagine gathering with friends and family under the stars for a nightcap. Or sitting outside to peacefully decompress after a long day with nothing but the sound of a crackling fire to help you relax. Here, then, are a few of our favorite hot spots.
Photo: Ashley Avila
Modern Fire Pit Design Creates Family Gathering Place
Rogue River Residence by Lucid Architecture
The owners of this beautiful Rockford, Michigan home are entertainers at heart. So, it only makes sense that the Lucid Architecture principal, Eric De Witt, would incorporate such a stunning outdoor living space into the design.
In addition to the open-air fire pit zone, a beautiful cedar soffit covers an exterior bar and lounge space. This social hub provides privacy and spectacular views. It also extends the number of days that the clients can enjoy the outdoors in the West Michigan climate.
According to De Witt, using nature’s most versatile material on these outdoor structures just made good design sense: “The coloration, durability, ease of working makes Western Red Cedar an incredibly sensible choice.”
Photos: Jeremy Bitterman / Joel B Sanders Agency
Seamless Connection to Outdoors Heated by Fire Pit
High Desert by Hacker Architects
In order to create a seamless connection between the interior and exterior of this stunning Bend, Oregon home, Western Red Cedar ceiling/soffit system is only lightly interrupted by full-height windows. The result is an expansive covered outdoor living space that feels at one with its stunning surroundings. And it’s not just for warmer months either. It can be enjoy throughout winter too – thanks to the roofed seating area and bold concrete fire table. It’s a definite standout when it comes to modern fire pit designs.
To further blur the lines between site and structure, they didn’t just use nature’s most versatile material for this outdoor space. They used it all over.
“The same Western Red Cedar used on the exterior siding is carried throughout the interiors, appearing continuous through the glass and giving the impression that there is no barrier at all between inside and outside spaces,” explains Hacker principal Corey Martin.
Photo: Matthew Millman
Mountainous Marvel with Built-in Fire Pit Design
It would be a shame to only enjoy that fresh mountain air in the summer. The CLB architects clearly knew that when they designed this stunning year-round outdoor living space. Complete with an outdoor fireplace, this covered entertainment area is warming and inviting. To ensure the homeowners of this Wyoming ranch could enjoy this space for years to come, CLB opted for a Western Red Cedar for the soffit as well as the siding.
“We chose to use cedar siding for this project because of its long history of performance in harsh environments,” he explains. “We specifically chose a rough-sawn Select Knotty grade and applied it as a rainscreen for the outermost siding because it is the most exposed to the elements and we wanted something that would mimic western agrarian aesthetic.”