✨ Interior images are AI-generated. Items shown are similar to those in the video.

Contemporáneo

Courtyard with a water wall lit from below and a black pebble basin

The sheet falls from a steel weir spanning almost three metres, and what sets it apart from an ordinary waterfall is where the light sits: the LED strip runs along the base, so the light climbs behind the water and what you see is the stone's relief through it. Below, a basin filled with black river pebble, with a second strip under its lip separating it from the paving. The rest of the courtyard stays in a single sand tone so it argues with nothing.

PatioMuro de aguaLámina de aguaIluminación desde la baseCanto rodado negroBanco voladoGramíneasAgavePorcelánico gran formatoAtardecer

Design keys

A continuous water sheet almost three metres wide, falling from a stainless steel weir that spans the full face.
The LED strip at the base rather than the top lip: the light climbs behind the water and reveals the stone's relief through the sheet.
A second strip under the basin lip, separating the volume from the paving so it appears to float.
A catch basin filled with black river pebble, the only dark material in a courtyard otherwise entirely in sand tones.
A cantilevered bench placed to one side of the waterfall rather than facing it, out of reach of the spray.
A timber slat panel on the left bay and a planter of grasses and purple flower on the right, framing the sheet without competing with it.

Furniture and decor in this design

Items shown are similar to those in the video, not necessarily identical.

Stainless steel weir for a water sheet

A stainless steel channel with a straight lip, sold in fixed widths and built into the top of the wall. The figure to check isn't the length but the flow per metre of lip the maker specifies: with an undersized pump, a wide unit falls in patches instead of a continuous sheet. Outdoors, choose 316 over 304 stainless if there's salt air near the coast.

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Autofill valve for ponds and fountains

A float valve plumbed to the mains or the irrigation line, topping the basin up as it evaporates. On a wide sheet it isn't an accessory: without one you're refilling by hose every few days in summer, and a pump left dry fails within hours. Choose the version with an access box, so you can shut the valve and check the float without draining the basin.

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Algaecide for ornamental fountains

A product made for recirculating ornamental water, dosed by basin volume. Pool product won't do: the concentration is different and it attacks the joints and the weir's steel. Note the basin's actual litres the first time you fill it, because afterwards everyone overestimates, and overdosing leaves a white tidemark on pale stone.

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Black decorative river pebble

Polished black river pebble in a medium grade, to fill the catch basin. Black wets well: dry it reads grey and dull, and with the sheet falling on it it turns almost glossy, which is when it works. Allow for considerably more weight than you'd think to cover a long basin, and rinse it before tipping it in or the dust clouds the water for the first week.

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Timer for a fountain pump

A programmable outdoor socket in a sealed enclosure, so the waterfall and its LED strip run only during the hours the courtyard is used. It cuts evaporation, consumption and the hours of light feeding the algae, all three at once. Choose the digital model with several daily slots rather than the dial type, which loses its settings outdoors with every power cut.

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Autoclave-treated exterior slat panel

A panel with timber treated right through, which is what you want on a face sitting beside a sheet of water. Surface treatment wears off over the years and moisture enters through cut ends, so if the panel has to be trimmed, brush preservative onto the cut before fitting. Even treated, hold it a few centimetres off the ground: water rises by capillary action and the bottom slat is always the first to go.

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How to get this look at home

A strip at the base and a strip at the top lip give two different results, not a better and a worse one. From below you see the stone through the water and the sheet reads as a veil; from above you see the fall and the backing stays dark. Decide before the cabling goes in, because it can't be changed afterwards.
The weir has to be dead level across its whole width. A millimetre out over three metres is enough for the water to stop falling at one end, and it's by far the most common defect in a wide sheet.
What's at the bottom decides the noise. Falling onto dry pebble it sounds like heavy rain; with the pebble submerged and water landing on water, the sound drops considerably. In a courtyard between party walls, test it before settling on the height.
The bench goes to one side, not opposite. In front of a three-metre sheet you're inside the spray and the noise; from the side you hear the water without getting wet, and the wall is seen at an angle, which is where the texture shows best.
With a water sheet, choose an irregular relief cladding rather than a smooth one. Over smooth stone the water looks like glass and disappears; over relief, every ridge breaks the sheet, and that's what makes the movement visible from the far end of the courtyard.

FAQ

Is a water wall noisy in a small courtyard?

It depends on three things you can actually adjust: the drop height, the flow rate and what it lands on. A tall sheet falling onto dry stone is the loudest combination, and in an enclosed courtyard the sound bounces off the party walls. Reducing the flow with a regulating valve, or leaving a few centimetres of water in the basin so water lands on water, takes the same wall from sounding like a shower to sounding like background. Fit that valve even if you don't use it at first.

How much water does a wall waterfall lose?

More than expected, and not through recirculation but through evaporation and wind. A wide sheet exposes a lot of water surface to the air, and in summer the basin level drops visibly; with a side wind, part of the water is also blown clear of the basin. That's why an autofill valve plumbed off the irrigation line pays for itself, topping the level up on its own, along with switching the pump off on a timer when nobody's out there — most of the loss happens with the waterfall running to an empty courtyard.

Why does algae grow on a lit water wall?

Because all three requirements are present: water, light and warmth. An LED strip running for hours over wet stone is literally a culture, and on pale stone the green shows up immediately. Control it with an algaecide made for ornamental fountains, dosed to the basin's volume, and by cutting the hours of light using the same timer as the pump. If there are plants or animals nearby, read the product's label, because not all of them are harmless.

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Courtyard with a water wall lit from below and a black pebble basin

Design keys

Furniture and decor in this design

How to get this look at home

FAQ

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