coping
As a rule, those of us who build watershapes meant for purposes other than swimming or hydrotherapy tend to pursue one path or another: Either we make our ponds, streams and waterfalls look as natural as we can manage, or we establish them to reveal the hand of man either partly or completely. In that either/or context, successful design depends at least in part on being perfectly clear with ourselves about what we are trying to achieve. In assessing ponds of these opposing forms, it's my personal practice to look at both natural ponds and formal ponds (or, more accurately, architectural ponds) as being right on par with one another with respect to their potential for beauty. Indeed, architectural ponds can be incredibly appealing when done up in such a way that
As a rule, those of us who build watershapes meant for purposes other than swimming or hydrotherapy tend to pursue one path or another: Either we make our ponds, streams and waterfalls look as natural as we can manage, or we establish them to reveal the hand of man either partly or completely. In that either/or context, successful design depends at least in part on being perfectly clear with ourselves about what we are trying to achieve. In assessing ponds of these opposing forms, it's my personal practice to look at both natural ponds and formal ponds (or, more accurately, architectural ponds) as being right on par with one another with respect to their potential for beauty. Indeed, architectural ponds can be incredibly appealing when done up in such a way that
As a rule, those of us who build watershapes meant for purposes other than swimming or hydrotherapy tend to pursue one path or another: Either we make our ponds, streams and waterfalls look as natural as we can manage, or we establish them to reveal the hand of man either partly or completely. In that either/or context, successful design depends at least in part on being perfectly clear with ourselves about what we are trying to achieve. In assessing ponds of these opposing forms, it's my personal practice to look at both natural ponds and formal ponds (or, more accurately, architectural ponds) as being right on par with one another with respect to their potential for beauty. Indeed, architectural ponds can be incredibly appealing when done up in such a way that
For the past year and more, we’ve worked our way step by step through the many processes involved in designing and installing quality residential watershapes, starting from the first contact with a prospective client and working our way through, in the last two months, to the application of well-selected interior finishes. A concern I’ve always had with this step-wise approach is that it makes too many of these operations seem as though they happen in isolation and that decisions about design and materials and finishing touches are made as
Edge treatments are important to me. They can lead the eye into the water, set up a barrier, break down a barrier. They're simply too critical to the overall impression made by a watershape to be left to chance. For the past ten years, I've found myself using one edge treatment more and more: a poured-in-place coping that uses colored concrete. I've now done it dozens of times, and my clients have always been thrilled by the results. In effect, I use the concrete to create soft and subtly colored rectangular
Your clients are thrilled with your pool design - with one exception. It may be set up to withstand a 9.0 earthquake, but with all that decking and concrete, it resembles a bomb shelter. Apparently while you were working with the client's desire for seismic durability in mind, you lost sight of their additional desire for soft, rolling meadows. I exaggerate here to make a point: Too many watershapers are reluctant to
