ARTICLES Archives - Page 49 of 312

He's no stranger to big commercial projects, but Kurt Kraisinger considers this one unique. Here's a look at the design he developed for a plaza space that realized the ambitions of the office building's owner while satisfying the desires of tenants who'd ultimately use the space.

Team Building

This was a fun one - a project that was fully within our comfort zone but pushed us into new territory and gave us an opportunity to shine in a unique design context. We had worked with the property-management firm before, and they called us in to have a look at a large space behind a multi-story office building in Overland Park, Kans., where we were also to meet with the building's owner and some of the project's stakeholders. We had done well in our

The yard was quite long and narrow, and so was the tightly confined access path. But Scott Cohen has enough experience in dealing with compact backyards that he's always ready, as he demonstrates here, to deliver a design that suits the space -- and his client's expectations.

Big Ideas, Small Space

It's a class of projects I'm coming across more and more often these days: Clients with homes in new developments want swimming pools and spas for their backyards, but the buildings are so big and consume so much of the available real estate that finding places to put worthy watershapes is a real challenge. The difficulty, of course, is that these homeowners are just like the owners of larger properties in wanting more than just pools and spas these days: They're thinking about generous seating and dining areas, outdoor

Finding Hope

Through the years, I assembled a pair of large computer files containing links to two specific sorts of news items. At the time, I considered them to be never-the-twain-shall-meet categories that I would eventually write about separately. But now I see them as interwoven,

Deficits of Trust

'The Harvard Business Review recently published results of an interesting survey: Overall, they said, some 75 percent of those contacted reported diminishing trust in U.S. business managers and their companies; moreover,' added Brian Van Bower in starting his Aqua Culture column in WaterShapes' January 2010 issue, 'their faith in educational institutions, product suppliers and government is on the decline as well.' 'It all seems gloomy and pessimistic, but I couldn't be

As a veteran watershape engineer, Dave Peterson has reviewed plans for countless vanishing-edge projects. Along the way, he's developed a preference for a specific approach to angling the top of the edge wall, offering guidance here that applies in nearly every case.

Making Edges Vanish

There are two common options when it's time to design the wall for a vanishing-edge swimming pool: cut it in or cut it away. With a cut-in approach, the top of the wall is cut down into the pool so that the water surface extends to the outside edge of the wall - effectively submerging it even when the water is not flowing over the edge. By contrast, a cut-away wall is one where the top of the wall angles down and away from the pool so that the water surface terminates at the inside edge of the wall. This results in the

When these clients originally made contact, they were after a renovation. But once Ryan Hughes saw the site and the plan and considered what the homeowners really wanted, he persuaded them to start from scratch and work with him in creating the bayfront poolscape of their dreams.

Begin Again

This project started with an unexpected phone call. The clients, who live in Iowa much of the year but have a second home on the water's edge in Tampa Bay, had spotted a Wall Street Journal article in which a photograph of a swimming pool with a "floating" fire pit had been included. They loved the look and figured they could use it to dress up the poolscape that had come with their Florida retreat - if only they could find a local company to do it! Looking through the text, she spotted a reference to the fact that we at Ryan Hughes|Design|Build had designed and competed the project that

Of all the visual offenses perpetrated by pond installers, there's one that upsets Dave Garton more than any other. Here, he offers several reasons for why it's something he encounters with such frequency, then discusses ways to avoid having it happen in the first place.

Wilma’s Baubles

Pond installation offers lots of opportunities for straying off the naturalistic path, but to me, there's no more problematic detour than the unfortunate "string-of-pearls" effect. When this happens, the edge of a pond looks more like Wilma Flintstone's rocky necklace than it does like the banks of a natural body of water. And it's a double shame, because the installer went to all the trouble of sourcing and placing natural material - but ended up with completely unnatural results. I've seen too many of these nightmare ponds through the years. Some are the result of a do-it-yourselfer's lack of awareness. It also happens with

So What’s Up?

The Number One question I have been asked since the announcement of the acquisition of WaterShapes by Watershape University is fairly blunt: "What does this mean for WaterShapes?" My usual answer is, "Not much - and everything!" The "not much" part pertains to the fact that

The Company You Keep

'If you ask a roomful of watershapers about the toughest of the basic business challenges they face,' wrote Brian Van Bower in opening his Aqua Culture column for January 2005, 'there's little doubt in my mind that a large percentage of them would say that finding, hiring and keeping good employees is near the top of the list.' 'Depending upon several factors - the size of your company, its business volume, its focus and how much work you submit to outside contractors - your own approach

Presented with great views, willing clients and a nearly blank slate, Rick Chafey took full advantage of the opportunities the site offered while also providing the homeowners with one-of-a-kind details that captured the essence of their ambitions for a new hilltop home.

A Desert Delight

There are three things I particularly like about this project: The first is that it was a referral through Skip Phillips, a co-founder of Genesis and one of my mentors as I've gained experience as a watershaper. He had worked on a project for the clients in Canada, and they asked if he knew of a good pool company in the Phoenix area. Backed up by our portfolio and reputation, Phillips's recommendation made us the right choice. The second is that the site had so