Pools & Spas Archives - Page 82 of 87

Teaching others the principles of vanishing-edge design and construction is something Skip Phillips has been doing for more than a decade. He knows from experience that each setting is different in ways that make it hard to generalize, but nonetheless, he says, watershapers can strive for spectacular results by approaching these projects with a standard set of considerations and questions in mind.

Water in Transit

Vanishing-edge pools are all about changing the relationship of the water to its surroundings. They enable the water to reflect views and create visual links to the surrounding scenery in dramatic and surprising ways that simply can't be achieved with conventional designs. The same distinction is true of perimeter-overflow systems and pools with deck-level (or slot-overflow) designs, which is why I classify all three together as "water-in-transit" systems. There's a lot of diversity under that big conceptual umbrella, but these pools share

Of all the projects he’s pursued in the past few years, says David Tisherman, he can’t easily think of another that rivals the achievement of this one with respect to balance, color, harmony or sheer energy. The key words here, he adds, are color and energy, with one flowing irresistibly from the other in a reinvigorated backyard that was once drab, uninteresting and crowded with an old pool that just didn’t fit with its surroundings.

Splashes of Color

If you can't see potential in every backyard you walk into, then you're in the wrong business. Yes, some projects are more inspiring than others, and some spaces seem to offer you more to work with than others. Without exception, however, our clients' yards present us with opportunities to develop programs that take advantage of what's there in ways that bring balance and harmony and interest to any setting. Speaking for myself, I'm no more energized in a project than when I get the opportunity to right a wrong and replace a past mistake with a fresh, interesting design - and that was certainly the case in the project discussed in this article and in my past several "Details" columns in this magazine. The setting was special, the clients were great and I was given free rein to work with color, shape and line in vivid, interesting and even startling ways - all in keeping with their wants and desires. SETTING THE SCENE To recap information from recent "Details," this pool/spa combination with its associated decking, walls, planters, outdoor cooking facilities and private garden area are located in a narrow yard at the base of a slope in Pacific Palisades, Calif. It's a spectacular

From the Top

Let me introduce you to an exciting project I've been working on most of this year. Right from the top, I'll say that even in the realm of the unique and rarified, this one is truly amazing. The clients are quite well-to-do, and the moment you walk into their home, you can't help recognizing that they are accomplished art collectors with an eye for modern masters as well as folk art. Their beachfront Malibu, Calif., home - one of

With its elegant structures, extensive sculpture gardens, beautiful watershapes and exquisitely maintained grounds, this 12-1/2-acre estate in Highland Park, Ill., is the product of two decades of ongoing design work by architects and environmental designers Suzanne and Ron Dirsmith. Among the many works of art and perfectly scaled amenities placed on the property, the project’s pool and spa create spectacular spaces for relaxation or exercise.

A Place for All Seasons

Water can be a central feature of any design, but in many cases it is just one element among many of equal (if not greater) importance. In the case of the project pictured here, the owners, a gentle and loving family, established and have maintained a vision of just the sort of warm and nurturing home and landscape they wanted, one in which the lives of family members and friends would be sustained, enriched and enlivened. Their vision (and their involvement with us) might have begun with the water, but it has since expanded to include

The key to clear and clean water in just about any successful watershape is effective and efficient filtration. What this means for residential pools and spas in particular, says hydraulics expert Steve Gutai, is that the watershaper needs to understand the characteristics of available filter media as well as the nuts and bolts of how filters are installed. Here, he breaks down these basics with an eye toward matching systems perfectly with specific applications.

Crystalline Clarity

In conceptual terms, watershape filtration is about as simple as it gets: Water that picks up insoluble organic materials in the form of dirt, debris, dust and algae is drawn by the pump to pass through a filter medium of one type or another. The medium - whether sand, a cartridge or diatomaceous earth - traps these materials and lets only clear, clean water back into the vessel. When the pump sends the cleaned water out of the filter, that water returns to the pool to dilute the dirty water in a continuous cycle of cleansing and dilution that ultimately results - when the system is set up the right way - in clear, clean water that's both aesthetically pleasing and safe. Sand, cartridge and diatomaceous earth filters have long dominated the market, and each requires a filter tank with internal components specific to the filter medium it uses. There are common components (as discussed at the end of this article), but it's important for the watershaper to

Chromatic Virtues

Color is amazing. It provides us with some of greatest opportunities we ever have to create spaces that are emotionally evocative and visually compelling - yet it is also one of the most difficult design details to understand and put to good and effective use. Trouble is, there's no easy way to simplify the challenge: Color is indeed a tough nut to crack, and that's as true for architects, artists, fashion designers and the people who choose colors for new

For most of the past four years, landscape architect/contractor/watershaper Mark Holden has devoted much of his professional energy to the creation of magnificent settings for Cima del Mundo, a grand estate high in the hills of Montecito, Calif. In two previous articles, he wrote about the nuts and bolts of the multi-phase project. Here, he steps back and offers a pictorial celebration to mark its completion.

A Classic Crescendo

'Project of a lifetime" may not be enough to describe our work at Cima del Mundo. If you'll recall, the hilltop home had experienced many changes since its original construction in 1925, including service as a makeshift monastery as well as a stretch of years in which the property was abandoned and

When construction-savvy designers join forces with design-sensitive contractors, say Randy and Martha Beard, the results can be spectacularly satisfying. That’s one reason they’ve focused so much of their work at Pure Water Pools on forming alliances with local landscape architects; another is the fact that the give and take with creative people involves them in projects that are a distinctive cut above anyone’s definition of the ordinary.

Both Sides Now

The way we see it, the most successful watershapes take two participants: a visionary designer who can express the clients' desires, and an accomplished builder who can turn that creative vision into reality. Sometimes, the designer and builder are one and the same person or organization. In many other instances, however, it is the collaboration of two professionals from opposite ends of a project that makes the difference between a watershape that is simply a watershape - and a watershape that is truly a

A skimmer is at its best when it’s set up to do a good job of removing debris from the water’s surface – and your client or a service technician never has to do much more than give it an occasional cleaning. No matter how low key, however, a skimmer’s role in ensuring water clarity is very important, says hydraulics expert Steve Gutai, who continues his series on basic hydraulics with a look at the function and proper installation of these devices.

The Skinny on Skimmers

Skimmers are found in just about every type of watershape imaginable, including gunite, vinyl-lined, fiberglass and aboveground pools as well as in-ground and portable spas - not to mention ponds, stream and fountains. In each case, specific skimmers have been designed to serve the individual applications. For purposes of this discussion, let's keep things simple by sticking to skimmers' most familiar application - in gunite swimming pools. A KEY ROLE The main function of a pool's skimmer is removal of debris from the surface of the water. To do so, the skimmer is connected to the suction-side plumbing of the pool's pump and draws water across a weir (or a float) as a result of the vacuum created by the pump. The weir (or float) is buoyant by nature and allows only a

If there was ever a project that underscored the notion that ‘backyard swimming pools’ aren’t what they used to be, this one by Ron Gibbons Swimming Pools of Islip Terrace, N.Y. is the perfect choice: Built with a dizzying range of functional and aesthetic features, the project was the combined effort of a client whose budget and ambitions were well matched with the talents and resources of a gifted designer/builder.

Stars on the Wetlands

It was one of those projects that demonstrate just how beautiful and exciting swimming pools and spas can be. The clients started by asking for something unique that would make creative use of lighting, hydraulics and sound - something that would maximize and extend the modern styling of their home while making the most of spectacular views available along the shore at Westhampton Beach, N.Y. Their confidence in our capabilities and creativity set the tone for the entire project and let us step well beyond the ordinary in our thought processes. This trust was