Decking design ideas

Somehow the deck has become a big thing.  Something I've supposedly added a lot of cost to!  Because I don't want balustrades.  Seriously, do you want balustrades on a view like this?

But regulations say that decks with a 1m+ drop will need to have a handrail.  (see here for more)

So one of our friends suggested that we do an "infinity" deck.  They stayed at a place in Tassie which had a deck which had a garden bed below.  Hence it was less than a 1m drop and therefore didn't need any balustrade.  It's not like we hadn't discussed having multiple levels before... and really it didn't need to be a complex design.  I was happy with just one level deck and up to two layers of 'planter' boxes (so to prevent the > 1m drop).

Here's some pics in trying to explain what I'm after:

This has no balustrades beyond the pool.  It's prob less than 1m but should give you an idea of what I'm after.

This has the garden bed 'under' the deck sort of what I'm after (but may need multiple levels of these to make it work)

This is more like it but less steps in my design! 

And some other lovely ideas we may want to incorporate in:

A sitting 'pit' maybe with a firepot in the middle

Garden seats made from decking and plants in the seat rest?

Something more elaborate perhaps?

This won't work for us, but if only our courtyard didn't need the light I'd so do this to shield us from view!