technique
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS September 16, 2020 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE…
In our usual run of business as installers of stone and tile in and around New York City, we can get involved in projects that take years to complete and involve us in applying tens of thousands of square feet of material within or onto a single high-rise building. In some of these projects, a pool or spa comes as part of the package, but they tend to be such small parts of the overall picture that it's fairly tough to focus on them. This was not the case, however, in our work on the renovation of the swimming pool and spa in the historic Woolworth Building in lower Manhattan. When it opened in 1913, this was the tallest skyscraper on the city's skyline and held that distinction for 17 years. For a time, it was the
These days, using LED lights to illuminate rectangular or kidney-shaped pools is pretty simple: You just space the fixtures out at proper intervals on a wall facing away from prime viewing spots inside the house and on deck, specify the appropriate wattage, hook them up to a suitable control system and step back to bask in the warm nighttime glow. But that sense of routine quickly disappears when
One of the things I like most about working in the watershaping business these days is how clever and creative designers and builders have become at what they do. It's not just the big details such as vanishing edges, play-pool configurations, sun shelves or swim-up bars. And it's about more than beach entries, grottos, laminar jets and cool spillways. Those are all great, every one of them, but what I'm talking about here is the attention to the small things - the subtle ways more and more watershapers are finding to make
In the final installment of their series on the history and development of the shotcrete method of concrete application, William Drakeley and Lily Samuels examine the industry's current state of the art -- then cast an optimistic eye toward the approach's future.
