Designing Outdoor Swimming Pools.

There’s nothing quite like relaxing by a pool in your own garden, and they’re a popular choice in many clients’ landscaping schemes. Here our Landscape Design team explores what to consider, from the location to size, styling and materials.

A Harmonious Design.

At the beginning of the design process, it’s worth considering how the design of the swimming pool can align with the garden aesthetic so their styles and colours complement each other. Ideally the pool’s shape and materials will integrate with the surrounding landscape, for example using natural stones around a pool in a heritage property garden or decking around a smaller pool in a modern urban garden space.

Incorporating elements like borders and flowerbeds and thinking about hard landscaping features such as garden levels and steps, can all help to integrate the pool beautifully into its environment. The goal is to create a balanced and visually pleasing integration, where the swimming pool is an inviting, attractive element of the whole.

There are lots of screening and fencing options to either give privacy or security, without disrupting the overall visual flow of the garden. In our Oxfordshire country garden project below, we selected contemporary glass panels to create a boundary protection while still giving a seamless connection to the fields beyond. Bilbury View Pool and Pavilion

Pools with a View.

Taking advantage of a captivating view is a great way to forge an immersive connection to nature. The vista becomes an integral part of the swimming pool’s design, extending the horizon and creating a sense of boundlessness.

Outdoor pools offer an excellent setting for social gatherings, especially during balmy summer evenings. By integrating pools with other entertaining areas like patios, garden rooms, outdoor kitchens and pergolas, the entertaining spaces are extended and flow together. Bilbury View Pool and Pavilion has a reclaimed oak-framed pavilion which stands alongside the pool, featuring a rustic dining table and a wood-burning stove, and its lights cast captivating reflections on the pool’s surface.

Energy Efficient.

Ensuring your pool is as energy efficient as possible is worthwhile for many obvious reasons. The below project is a compact Endless Pool (a pool designed for stationary swimming using a propulsive current), which has been installed in the grounds of our client’s G2 Listed property, and measures 2.13m x 4.3m x 1.22m. This inground pool has been installed outside and below ground, resting on a well-insulated (100mm) pad. To minimise heat loss, the pool is further protected with a generous 200mm foam insulation on each side. When not in use, the pool is sealed and covered.

For comfortable year-round use, the pool is equipped with a discreetly placed Remora i19 inverter air sourced heat pump, positioned 5m away from the pool. This innovative heat pump efficiently provides sufficient warmth to keep the pool at an ideal heated temperature. Leveraging ‘off-peak’ electricity, the heat pump operates between midnight and 5 am, optimising energy usage.

For the coldest of winter days when additional heating is required, a 10kWh Tesla Powerwall Battery comes to the rescue. Charged during ‘off-peak’ hours, this intelligent battery allows for extended heating periods. Future plans for this project include the installation of a Solar PV array to charge the battery, making the pool entirely independent from the grid, except for those exceptionally cold winter days that call for an extra boost.

The property’s G2 Listing presents a unique challenge when it comes to solar panels, as they typically cannot be installed on the roof (with a few exceptions). A creative solution is sought in the grounds, utilising innovative technologies such as the one offered by Heliomotion. This unconventional approach aims to maintain the property’s aesthetic integrity while harnessing solar power.

Materiality.

Selecting materials for your pool that complement your home’s architecture can create a cohesive and visually appealing outdoor space, fostering a sense of unity and enhancing the overall beauty of the landscape. It’s worthwhile consiering factors like durability, maintenance requirements, and how the materials will interact with the surrounding natural elements to ensure a successful and long-lasting design. Our project Chestnut Ridge  was designed with natural stone and timber up-lit steps, which elegantly bridge the gap between the contemporary family house and pool at the foot of the tiered lawns.

What’s Next?

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Whether you’re looking to transform your outdoor space or design an imaginative new build home or extension that links seamlessly to the surrounding grounds, we can work with you to create a space that is unique to your property and lifestyle.