Eighth Wonder: Nick Troubetzkoy’s, Skip Phillips’, Chris Barnes’ and David Knox’s Platinum Standard Project

In December 2004, WaterShapes introduced ‘The Platinum Standard,’ a registry of projects that embodies watershaping at its finest. Now, as part of our celebration of the magazine’s 100th Issue, Eric Herman offers ‘The Platinum Standard II,’ a fresh set of 20 projects that have graced the pages of the magazine in the past three-and-a-half years – projects that demonstrate clearly that watershaping has become an art form in its own right.

Nick Troubetzkoy
Anse Chastanet
St. Lucia

Skip Phillips
Questar Pools
Escondido, Calif.

Chris Barnes
Barnes Water Tech
San Diego, Calif.

David Knox
Lightstreams
Mountain View, Calif.

Jade Mountain may well be the world’s most romantic, exquisitely conceived and painstakingly built resort property. Nestled in St. Lucia’s rainforest, the hotel’s rooms are all distinctly different, but each is open to the air and has its own vanishing-edge pool finished with one-of-a-kind glass tile. This brainchild of architect and hotelier Nick Troubetzkoy cannot be described in mere words: You have to be there to perceive the poetry of this most inspirational of places mySpace