Professional Watershaping

Restoration at ‘Earth Speed’
Healing troubled bodies of water is an opportunity to make a positive impact on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, explains Ed Beaulieu, and elevate the human experience in the process. Using this project as a prime example, a set of ponds owned by an A-list celebrity and activist was transformed from a morbid state of deterioration to a vibrant ecological asset. ...
Finishing for a Friend
Departed watershaper, Grant Smith, left behind a legacy of excellence, integrity and service. Following his untimely death in 2021, a group of his colleagues and friends from Watershape University stepped up to complete a number of his unfinished projects, all of which came to successful resolution and lived up to the high standards he stood for. ...
Planting Design with Style
One of the lingering ironies of designing planted areas is that although plants are arguably the most impactful of all landscape elements, they are also often left as an afterthought. Mark David Levine, argues elevating softscape starts with understanding planting design style.   ...
A Question of Leadership
As the pool and spa industry continues to surge into a seemingly bright future, veteran designer Kevin Woodhurst asks big questions about where our industry will find the leaders of tomorrow. The answers, he believes, come from within those who have witnessed the industry’s dynamic evolution. ...
The Wolfpack’s Simmering Summer Schedule
In its efforts to provide the industry’s finest education in formats and settings that fit a wide variety of student needs, Watershape University is presenting two outstanding summer programs, one live and in person, the other live and online. ...
Cascading Achievement
The elegant contemporary watershapes at the recently completed Apple Store in Abu Dhabi, UAE, stand among Crystal Fountains’ most sublime recent achievements, one in which they collaborated with an elite project team. Here’s a look at how the highly transparent process unfolded, both literally and figuratively. ...
Indoor Water & Air Quality (part II)
Air quality in natatoriums, and ultimately the comfort and health of people using and working at those facilities, relies on a careful balance between operating parameters and system design. As Eric Knight explains here, achieving outstanding indoor air requires understanding the interrelated nature of these spaces and the systems designed to maintain optimum conditions.   ...
Safety is Tough to Talk About
The pool industry has always been challenged when it comes to discussing and promoting safety. As Eric Herman argues here, the way forward with the safety issue is to empower consumers with information about the benefits of swim instruction, as well as the importance of supervision and the spectrum of engineered safety systems and products. ...
Essential Digital Modeling
There is no question the bar for visual presentations has been raised dramatically in recent years. 3D modeling programs have transformed the way that watershape and landscape designs are created and sold. That’s why Watershape University is offering a new course aimed at elevating digital presentation skillsets. ...
Outgrowing the ‘Pool Guy’
The labels watershapers use to describe who they are and what they do for a living matter in more ways than one, argues Kevin Woodhurst. Because professional terminology reflects an underlying value system and industry culture, there’s one term in particular that he believes should be permanently retired. ...