Pools & Spas
In advancing my career as a watershape designer, I've put major stock in education to give me an edge. I've taken multiple courses in computer-assisted design, for instance, along with all sorts of technical-skills classes to keep me up with what's current in the field. But I've noticed as well that the accumulation of experience is a huge additional asset, mainly because it reflects what I've already tried, survived and learned from - but also because having done some of the things I've tackled through the years gives me
For me and my business in around 2008, this project was a real rite of passage. At that point, pool-construction and shotcrete-application companies like ours were well established and had lineages stretching back to the 1950s. Just the same, we were having a hard time gaining recognition from architects, landscape architects and developers who were pursuing quality, prestige construction. The irony is, my own firm had
This project began with a client's dropped jaw. I'd been called to the site by one of my usual subcontractors to help resolve a minor problem he was having. While that was being resolved, I noticed that the new steps in the remodeled pool were far more troubling. With the client and a bunch of other people standing there, I asked for a demo hammer - and saw the looks of astonishment as I smacked the top step and
We don't get involved in renovations all that often, but in this case it would've been tough to say no. Not long before, we'd designed a new pool for right next door - a thoroughly modern watershape that looked great and was perfectly suited to the property and the architecture of the home. As work continued on site, it was apparent that one of the neighbors was more than a little
When you step up to tackle what might possibly be the most challenging job your company has ever pursued, there's definitely a gut check involved. Do you have the required staff? Can you call on top-flight subcontractors? Do you have the stamina to get involved and stay involved for the duration of a seriously long, seriously complex project? As we found in building the seven watershapes
I love it when a project teaches me a lesson about my design process. In this case, it was just a smallish insight - but it had a profound effect on the outcome just the same. I'd seen this property for the first time while the home was under construction. It was a large building, about three-quarters complete, that occupied most of a fairly large parcel. The clients were happy to show me around, let me figure things out and come
As a mixed-use apartment complex in downtown Indianapolis, Ind., the not-quite-modestly named Artistry complex boasts sleek architecture and modern features intended to reflect the community's long history of skilled craftsmanship as well as its appreciation for the arts and commitment to active, energetic lifestyles. The main building features five stories of urban apartment homes above 68,000 square feet of commercial office space. Two additional buildings provide options for alternative accommodations, including
Who says you have to live in the Rockies to get the perfect mountain home? These clients are living that dream just outside Kansas City, Mo. Not long ago, they purchased land north of the Missouri River near Smithville, a rural outpost known for its rolling hills, plentiful trees and tobacco farms. It's a place where relatively low-cost land is still available, and people have started buying acreage and building their
Vanishing-edge walls have been a common design detail for the past 25-odd years and have been the subject of seminars and workshops almost as long as I can remember. Still, it's clear that there are several key points about how they should be designed and installed that elude watershapers who persist in treating these key structural components as little more than glorified in-pool spa dam walls or some other internal detail. You can probably
It happens only rarely, but every once in a while you run into a client who wants to do things out of sequence. Most often, we're asked to work on projects where there's an existing home that needs a watershape. Just as commonly, we're brought in when a home is being built at the same time as a new pool and its associated environment. In the case described in this article, however, our client owned a 20-acre site with little more than
