When MJS Landscaping Services designed the outdoor living space for a Metropolitan Builders Association Parade of Homes property in New Berlin, WI, the fire feature wasn’t an afterthought. It was in the rendering from day one — a round fire bowl at the center of a hexagonal paver circle, framed by a pergola and surrounded by fresh landscaping.
The bowl they spec’d was a 52-inch Zen Fire Bowl from CastinCrete.
Designed Around the Fire Feature
The hexagonal paver circle wasn’t built and then fitted with a fire bowl. The circle was built for the bowl. That’s a different kind of project — one where the landscaper and the fire feature supplier are working from the same drawing, and the geometry of the space has to work at every stage: paver installation, gas line placement, and final install.
On a Parade of Homes site, where thousands of people walk through evaluating every detail, the fire feature needed to look like it belonged. A stone fire pit risks looking improvised. A 52-inch Zen Fire Bowl — smooth GFRC concrete, hemispherical profile, proportioned to the circle — looks like the space was always meant to have exactly that.
The Build: 52-Inch Zen + Warming Trends Crossfire
The bowl is a 52-inch Zen Fire Bowl — hand-cast from architectural-grade GFRC (Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete) at our Hartland, WI studio. GFRC is lighter than poured concrete and engineered to withstand the thermal demands of a live fire burner — where most standard concrete would eventually fail.
Each bowl goes through a precise hydration and thermal cure cycle. The right water-to-cement ratio initiates proper cement hydration — too little and the concrete under-hydrates; too much and it weakens. As the concrete cures it generates significant internal heat, and we keep the exterior hydrated throughout that process. The bowl doesn’t leave the form until the thermal cycle is complete and it’s fully cooled.
The burner is the Warming Trends Crossfire with 290,000 BTU output and Platinum Electronic Ignition. The Crossfire’s cross-shaped brass burner produces a fuller, more natural-looking flame than a single linear burner. On a calm evening, flames reach close to 18 inches. The Platinum Electronic Ignition is app-controlled and fully adjustable — no fixed flame height, no lighters, no standing over a valve.
This bowl was finished with black lava rock and a birch log set — a combination that reads well in person and photographs cleanly under evening light.
The Result
The finished space is exactly what the rendering promised. The bowl fills the paver circle without crowding it; the rounded concrete profile echoes the pergola posts and the boulders in the surrounding landscaping. In the evening, with the Crossfire burner running, it’s the focal point of the entire yard — which is what MJS designed it to be.
The Crossfire gives the homeowner full control from their phone: start the fire, adjust the flame height, shut it down — no lighters, no pilot lights, no standing over a valve. The fire bowl that MJS designed into this home from the start — a year before it was built — is available to order for any residential or commercial outdoor space.
Working on a Landscape or Builder Project?
CastinCrete works with landscape contractors and builders throughout southeastern Wisconsin — including New Berlin, Waukesha, Brookfield, and the greater Milwaukee metro — and ships nationwide. The Zen Fire Bowl is available in multiple diameters. Reach out here to talk through sizing and burner options, or stop by our Hartland showroom where the Zen is on display and lit on request.
Landscaping by MJS Landscaping Services, LLC, New Berlin, WI.