Pools
Water is a precious and magical thing and with every drought that we experience we appreciate it more. It is a delight to all the senses and it plays a huge part in the garden.
Apart from being a vital ingredient in keeping gardens alive, water plays a recreational and aesthetic role in garden design. Swimming pools and spas are a great example of this. With this great climate, swimming is one of the wonderful things about living in Australia.
Swimming pools are taking different forms these days to meet the changing needs of the market. In small courtyards we are designing spas and dip pools, big enough to allow only a couple of people to cool off. Jets of water can be put into small pools to allow a steady current of water to swim against for exercise. Lap pools also offer exercise while taking up minimal space in the garden and often fitting into otherwise under-utilised spaces.
The shape and colour of the pool, the materials of its cladding and surrounds and the placement and look of the pool safety fence are all important decisions in the overall planning of a garden. A beautifully designed swimming pool, whose fence is integrated into the architecture of the house or disappears into planting, can have the appearance of a reflection pond. A ‘wet edge’ or ‘infinity edge’ can allow the water surface to meet the view seamlessly for an elegant result.
When designing or purchasing a pool, you also need to think about how you enter the pool—by wide, gentle, generous steps that take you slowly into the water, by a more discrete steep step arrangement or by a swim-out beach-style area for a more leisurely approach? Make sure you are across your planning and safety regulations and carefully select where your pool equipment will go so that your beautiful pool is not spoiled by ugly filters and pumps.
Blue Haven are Australia's largest builder of concrete, fiberglass, and acrylic pools and spas. For more information on their products,
click here for a product review.
