What an outdoor kitchen actually costs in Australia

Olea outdoor kitchen pod at dusk with the projector screen down, two groups watching a film from garden seating

Almost nobody publishes this, so here is ours in full, and then the parts we cannot quote for you.

What an OLEA pod costs

  • OLEA 24 — $15,990
  • OLEA 36 — $17,790
  • OLEA 38 — $21,890

Grey and Black cost the same. That price includes the four-burner gas barbecue, the range hood, the beverage cabinet, the stainless sink and tap, the projector and screen, the television, the motorised canopy with its LED lighting, and the cabinetry it all sits in. There is no base model that arrives empty.

What it does not include is delivery, placement and connection. Those are quoted separately, for a reason we will come to.

Where the money goes in a built outdoor kitchen

The alternative is building one in place. That can be the right answer, particularly if your space is an awkward shape. But the quote arrives as a single number, and it is worth knowing what sits inside it before you compare anything.

Ask your builder to itemise at least these:

  • The slab or footing, and any levelling or retaining the site needs first
  • Cabinetry, and the benchtop separately — benchtop material is usually where the number moves
  • Each appliance, at the model you are actually getting, not a category allowance
  • Gas, water and electrical rough-in, then final connection, as separate lines
  • Extraction, if the design has a roof over it
  • Weather protection for anything that is not stainless
  • The trades' return visits, which are the lines that quietly multiply

We are not going to publish a number for any of these. They swing by suburb, by access, by ground conditions and by how many times someone has to come back. Anyone quoting a national average for an outdoor kitchen is guessing.

What a pod does to that list

It collapses most of it. The cabinetry, the benchtop, the appliances, the extraction, the internal water and power runs and the weatherproofing are all done in the factory, at a fixed price you can read above.

What stays on your side is the slab, the crane, and the final connections by licensed trades — your plumber, your electrician, your gas fitter. That is exactly why we quote those separately rather than folding them into the sticker price: we cannot see your site from here, and a number that ignored your access would be a number we had to walk back.

The additions

The appliance bays take one item each, and each has a published price:

Leave a bay as closed storage and it costs nothing extra.

The cheapest mistake to avoid

It is not the budget. It is the access.

A pod is craned in. If the side gate is too narrow or there is no overhead clearance, the delivery fails and every dollar above becomes academic. Measure before you shortlist a size, not after you order one. The site requirements page sets out what to check, and delivery and crane access covers what happens on the day.

Then compare the three: the outdoor kitchen pods, side by side.