engineering
The design and installation of the circulation, filtration and chemical-treatment systems for the pools at St. Lucia's Jade Mountain was a task of monumental proportions and extreme technical, physical and logistical difficulty. The effort was spearheaded by watershaper/hydraulics expert Chris Barnes, who spent months on site installing precision systems engineered to provide years of nearly maintenance-free service. Installing the circulation systems for the pools at Jade Mountain was a challenge unlike any other. I was first approached about the project by my good friend, Skip Phillips, who explained that he had already been working on the project's design for several years and indicated that it was going to be something truly amazing. He observed that the owner and his design team didn't have anyone in place with any experience with the installation of extremely complex watershapes and suggested that I might be the one to step up to the challenge and keep
They don’t come along very often, but every once in a while some of us are fortunate enough to become involved with a project that redefines what watershaping is all about. St. Lucia’s Jade Mountain was one of those remarkable opportunities, and no matter how long I’ll be in this business, I’m certain there will never be another project quite like this one. For starters, it stands as perhaps the most extensive and spectacular all-time use of the vanishing edge – ever, anywhere – all set in one of the most unusual buildings ever imagined for a resort property in a location that is almost indescribably beautiful. The brainchild of architect/owner Nick Troubetzkoy, Jade Mountain is
You hold in your hands an entirely unique issue of WaterShapes - distinct in that all four of the feature articles are about a single project called Jade Mountain. Time will tell, of course, but Jade Mountain may turn out to be
You hold in your hands an entirely unique issue of WaterShapes - distinct in that all four of the feature articles are about a single project called Jade Mountain. Time will tell, of course, but Jade Mountain may turn out to be
I've always believed that if you're going to do something, you should do it so well that the results are beyond compare. That basic philosophy has guided our company, GCS of Woodbridge, Calif., from the very start. It has led us to apply the highest standards to every one of our projects, all of which have been executed on large estates for ambitious, affluent, selective clients who invariably want something no one else has. We've been selective from the start as well, seeking clients who are in the process of creating the homes of their dreams and who want to have fun with (and in) their exterior spaces. In most cases, what they want are true oases - resort-like settings that give them a taste of
I've always believed that if you're going to do something, you should do it so well that the results are beyond compare. That basic philosophy has guided our company, GCS of Woodbridge, Calif., from the very start. It has led us to apply the highest standards to every one of our projects, all of which have been executed on large estates for ambitious, affluent, selective clients who invariably want something no one else has. We've been selective from the start as well, seeking clients who are in the process of creating the homes of their dreams and who want to have fun with (and in) their exterior spaces. In most cases, what they want are true oases - resort-like settings that give them a taste of
Why isn't the appropriate use of water a defining, central component in the education of landscape architects? That question has rattled around in my head for a long, long time, basically because it has no adequate or satisfactory answer. I'm a trained landscape architect and, as luck would have it, for nearly 20 years I've had one foot in the pool industry and the other in landscape architecture - and I've always felt like a rare beast moving back and forth between two entirely separate worlds. As I see it, this lack of affinity between these water-related industries has been a limiting factor in the advancement of the watershaping trades. For me, the lack of connection has always seemed nonsensical when it hasn't seemed tragic. As a watershaper, a big part of my work in recent years has been seeking ways to combine the best of both worlds and share what I know with university-level students in landscape architecture departments - students whose chairs I occupied some years ago and who still stand a good chance of graduating without ever having been taught anything at all about how water can
Why isn't the appropriate use of water a defining, central component in the education of landscape architects? That question has rattled around in my head for a long, long time, basically because it has no adequate or satisfactory answer. I'm a trained landscape architect and, as luck would have it, for nearly 20 years I've had one foot in the pool industry and the other in landscape architecture - and I've always felt like a rare beast moving back and forth between two entirely separate worlds. As I see it, this lack of affinity between these water-related industries has been a limiting factor in the advancement of the watershaping trades. For me, the lack of connection has always seemed nonsensical when it hasn't seemed tragic. As a watershaper, a big part of my work in recent years has been seeking ways to combine the best of both worlds and share what I know with university-level students in landscape architecture departments - students whose chairs I occupied some years ago and who still stand a good chance of graduating without ever having been taught anything at all about how water can
When I sit down with clients for our first face-to-face meeting, we discuss a range of issues that will guide me when I return to my studio and get down to designing a watershape and surrounding areas for them. We'll talk about colors, materials, the location of the pool, their preferences in art, the way they entertain and, perhaps most important of all, how they plan to use their backyard and swimming pool. Let's focus on that last point: When we talk about how a pool is going to be used, what I really want to know is how it will be used on a daily or weekly basis (for swimming, exercise, play or simply as a visual), not how it's going to be used once or twice each year when they throw a big pool party. My thought is that these clients will
When I sit down with clients for our first face-to-face meeting, we discuss a range of issues that will guide me when I return to my studio and get down to designing a watershape and surrounding areas for them. We'll talk about colors, materials, the location of the pool, their preferences in art, the way they entertain and, perhaps most important of all, how they plan to use their backyard and swimming pool. Let's focus on that last point: When we talk about how a pool is going to be used, what I really want to know is how it will be used on a daily or weekly basis (for swimming, exercise, play or simply as a visual), not how it's going to be used once or twice each year when they throw a big pool party. My thought is that these clients will
