This beautiful Swimming Pool, Spa and landscape treatment, based on a brief inspired by the owners’ holiday stay at one of the magnificent Aman Resorts in Bali, were designed by us as a ‘water feature’ that you can swim in. Winner of an Australian ‘National Pool of the Year’ award, the Pool and Spa were neatly incorporated into the narrow side passage of a small northern Sydney property.
The design and construction of this elegant lap pool extended beyond the front of the residence and out to the front of the property, where it spilt over into a smaller uplit pond, creating a beautiful focal point from the street frontage. Its design also included the replacement of a portion of walling (to the side of the actual residence itself) with a large area of fixed glass. This served to open up the interior of the residence to the adjacent Pool, Spa and garden areas, enabling a unique integration between the internal and external spaces to be achieved.
A wonderful sense of space and enclosure has been created, both within the residence and within the Pool itself. The large floor to ceiling windows of the formal lounge room sit at the water’s edge and help to create a beautiful relationship between the Pool and the residence. The eaves of the house overhang the pool and are supported by columns extending up out of the water, sheltering the pool and connecting it physically and visually to the residence. The elevated Spa and dramatic stone feature wall bestow the pool with a sense of understated luxury, which is further complimented by the lush garden setting.
The owners of the property were delighted with the final results, however as the following email from one of the owners indicates, the ramifications were far different to what was expected:
Hi Peter
As strange as it may seem, we have now sold our beautiful Northbridge home. As you know, the Pool, Spa and landscape project that you designed for us was featured in ‘Interiors’ magazine and also won the ‘Australian Pool of the Year’ award. We had planned to live in this home ‘forever’, however after it won so many awards and gained so much publicity we decided to ‘test the waters’ with regard to its market value. We were very pleasantly surprised – the value added by your design and by your professional advice was beyond our wildest expectations!
We just wanted to thank you again so much for the wonderful service that you and your team provided to us. We look forward to working with you all again in the near future.
Kind regards
Richard
The Pool and Spa are both fully tiled in Italian glass mosaics, with the border tiles incorporating the mineral ‘vanadium’ to add additional visual interest. In addition, Himalayan sandstone has been used for the Pool and Spa coping and surrounds.
The gentle sound of cascading water, which can be heard when the residence is opened up to the Pool area, extends the feeling of peace that the Pool and landscaping have created, whilst the contemporary ‘tropical-Asian’ influence has in turn inspired the design of the internal spaces of the residence.