This waterscape is all about relationships. Everything is intertwined. The project springs from a landscape architect and a pool builder who have worked together for years. Their client was a home builder who used to employ the pool builder. The purpose of the project was to help unify the spec home with a partially covered courtyard outside.
“[The home builder] had the concept of bringing a pool into that courtyard space,” says landscape architect Scott Redmon, owner of Redmon Design Co. in Maitland, Fla. “We were trying to create some movement and water effects that would be viewed from many rooms.”
The pool easily accomplishes this goal. It meanders through the courtyard, runs under a bridge and ends in the backyard, flowing into a larger, ovular pool. Redmon wrapped the termination pool around the master bathroom and its bay windows.
A spa sits within the stream’s confines, separated from the pool by a dam wall. The wall lies an inch below the waterline, so that the aquascape’s surface remains contiguous.
“When you’re inside the spa, you can look all the way down that courtyard space under the bridge,” Redmon says. “It looks like you’re actually in the pool.” The cold and hot vessels only exchange a minimal amount of water, he adds.
An important part of the pool’s impact lies in the designers’ use of contrasting surface materials. The coping, made of black pebble set with matching grout, dramatically outlines the pool’s form, while it also stands out in sharp relief against the light blue, exposed aggregate interior.
“If it had a darker bottom, it would have blended in with the black [coping] and it wouldn’t have popped as much,” says pool builder Adam Alstott, president of Tropical Pools & Spas Inc. in Winter Park, Fla. The intricate mosaic waterline combines the warmth of travertine and coolness of slate to tie the look together.
The clients wanted to have this tight interplay between home and vessel while also keeping the pool safe. “There are probably 20 doors and windows hardwired [with alarms],” Alstott says. “It’s a big house.”
Extra touches add originality. A sheet waterfall drops 12 inches from the bridge into the pool, while nearby a lion-head spout reinforces the courtyard’s intimate garden feeling. A fogger adds special effects to the outdoor area of the pool.
“We had it in the courtyard, but it clouded everything up, and they were worried about somebody falling in the pool,” Alstott says. “So we moved it to the outer part.”
With the stacked-stone fireplace and tall courtyard walls, the project creates a cozy and private space — so much so that it actually feels like an indoor pool.
