plumbing
There are some things that are better seen than described. In the case of pool and spa equipment, for example, there are situations in which manufacturer instructions or two-dimensional plan drawings simply do not give the installer all the information needed to get things right the first time. As a result - and as everyone who installs equipment sets knows - the plumbing and layout of the equipment usually requires some level of on-site improvisation. In our work of designing hydraulic systems for complex watershapes - everything from commercial pool facilities to interactive waterfeatures and fountains - we've seen the need to find a way to specify precisely how we want our equipment sets to be installed. No two-dimensional plumbing schematic or manufacturer-supplied manual does that part of the job. That is, they do not completely delineate the way
The Shenandoah Valley of western Virginia is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. The site to which we were summoned in January 2004 - a 220-acre estate set amidst its rolling hills - confirmed that opinion in every possible way by offering incredible views of nearby valleys, forests, farmland and mountains. We'd been called to take over a grand-scale swimming-pool project, one as outsized as the property with respect to scope and complexity - and one that required constant, detailed interaction with
We've all heard the phrase "less is more" so often that it's become a cliché, but there are still situations where there is powerful truth in those words. There is no question, for example, that watershapers can create tremendous beauty by using simple shapes and quality materials to accentuate and magnify a setting. This is particularly so when the watershaper exploits the alluring, reflective qualities of water itself to create a strong focal point while effectively blending the vessel into its setting. A case in point is the
It's a setting of searing beauty and now features a home that is unquestionably a work of art. Designed by renowned architect Helena Arahuete of Lautner & Associates (Hollywood, Calif.), the structure sits on a privately owned, 2,000-foot-tall mountain known as Twin Sisters Peak - just part of an 1,800-acre estate in Solano County, Calif., that offers clear vistas of the Pacific Ocean, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay, the Sacramento Valley, Napa Valley and the Sierra Madre Mountains as you turn around the compass. In the great tradition of "organic architects" from Frank Lloyd Wright through to Arahuete's mentor and long-time collaborator, the late John Lautner, the home takes full advantage of its setting, crowning the mountaintop with a glass-and-concrete hexagon that at once beautifies and harmonizes with the landscape. So fascinating is this structure and so prominent is its location that, during construction and ever since, private
It's a setting of searing beauty and now features a home that is unquestionably a work of art. Designed by renowned architect Helena Arahuete of Lautner & Associates (Hollywood, Calif.), the structure sits on a privately owned, 2,000-foot-tall mountain known as Twin Sisters Peak - just part of an 1,800-acre estate in Solano County, Calif., that offers clear vistas of the Pacific Ocean, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay, the Sacramento Valley, Napa Valley and the Sierra Madre Mountains as you turn around the compass. In the great tradition of "organic architects" from Frank Lloyd Wright through to Arahuete's mentor and long-time collaborator, the late John Lautner, the home takes full advantage of its setting, crowning the mountaintop with a glass-and-concrete hexagon that at once beautifies and harmonizes with the landscape. So fascinating is this structure and so prominent is its location that, during construction and ever since, private
Truly a large-scale project full of unique technical challenges in an unusual and important civic setting, the renovation of the watershapes at Jambalaya Park in Gonzalez, La., is easily the most unusual project our firm has ever tackled. The park covers seven beautifully wooded acres in an older section of town that's mostly residential but sits directly behind City Hall and several other smaller civic buildings. It takes its name from the fact that the city is known as the world's "Jambalaya Capital" and annually hosts a week-long festival celebrating the Cajun stew that has become a star in the
Whether a spa is concrete or portable, custom or mass produced, sound hydraulics and good plumbing are needed if the spa's jets are to give clients the hydrotherapeutic action they crave. The manufacturers of portable spas do this work for their dealers, observes hydraulics expert Steve Gutai, putting watershapers who work in concrete at a disadvantage that must be addressed if a concrete spas are to compare favorably with a client's portable options.
Back in November, I described the background of a project on a sprawling estate in the hills near Hanover, Pa. - a spectacular setting for an enormous swimming pool, an island spa, a cascading waterfeature and big expanses of rockwork and stone decking. As was mentioned, our first task was to remove a brand-new system of retaining walls that had been built adjacent to the planned location for the swimming pool. We did so because the wall's large footings reached into a space needed to support a cascade that will appear to tumble into the pool. To ensure
It's not too unusual to replace all of the plumbing, equipment and electrical lines as part of a swimming pool renovation project. It's quite another story, however, when you need to make sure all of it happens without disrupting the deck surrounding the vessel. As mentioned in my last two "Details," that's precisely what we've been asked to do in renovating a 70-year-old pool in the historic Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles. The presence of a beautiful, valuable, imported limestone deck means that we've had to do all of our work from inside
If the art of watershaping is ultimately about visuals, then creating a situation for yourself in which you're virtually guaranteed to create visual disruptions is something you certainly do not want to do. That's the situation I currently face in the renovation of a pool at a stunning, 1920s-vintage home in the heart of Los Angeles. As I indicated in my last column, it's a remarkably beautiful setting that features a 70-year-old pool that was well designed, expertly installed, well worth keeping - and surrounded by
