Pools are the ultimate marriage of natural beauty and architectural brilliance. These extraordinary water features take full advantage of Australia’s breathtaking coastline, often nestled between rocks, cliffs, or islands. From thrilling and exhilarating experiences to relaxing and rejuvenating treatments, these stunning pools will surely leave a lasting impression.
Sydney Pool + Outdoor Design’s Gemma Thomas sits down with Lap of Luxury Pools’ founding director Andrew Good to discuss all of the intricate details involved with designing, installing and maintaining these stunning structures.
“While nine out of ten Australians reside within 20 minutes driving distance of a public swimming facility, access is unevenly distributed across council areas. Some councils have far more residents per aquatic centre than others – Parramatta in particular boasts almost 14,000 per swimming centre while Mosman in Sydney only has around 7,000. Furthermore, rural and regional pools may only open seasonally which further restricts accessibility.”
Swimming pools may seem out of reach financially for many individuals and families; however, that doesn’t make them unaffordable; there are ways to lower the costs through solar heating and water recycling systems and using recycled water for irrigation and cleaning purposes.
Baker says it is critical to create and stick to a plan when setting up a pool, including making use of its facilities beyond traditional uses like swimming carnivals and community groups – such as charging fashion week shows, production companies or private parties outside the normal scope of local pool use to recoup part of its multi-million dollar investment.
Dealing with seawater presents another formidable challenge, which can be detrimental to metal and concrete when acidic. There are products available that may help combat calcium deposits like dilute hydrochloric acid solutions; however, they shouldn’t be used on fibreglass structures nor as an environmentally-friendly option.
Rising sea levels pose another formidable threat, according to Jordan. Since ocean pools are built on rock platforms, rising sea levels will “change how ocean pools work”, possibly necessitating costly raising measures or worse yet climate change-driven storm surges which have sent boulders tumbling off cliffs above and threatened their survival by washing away pools altogether.
Maintenance of these breathtaking structures can be expensive and time consuming, yet can prove particularly challenging when cleaning becomes necessary. Sand in some ocean pools is often polluted with silt from river runoff that makes cleaning more challenging; additionally seaweed or algae quickly grow requiring chemical treatment which may prove costly or time consuming to treat; thankfully there are products available that make this task simpler.