Lighting and colour
Many luxury residential and commercial pools are housed in purpose-built rooms designed to provide views out onto landscaped grounds. Daylight and lighting design are very important to creating an oasis, not just a pool. Fluorescent tubes, fibreoptics, and/or light-emitting diode (LED) lighting can be installed behind a stretch ceiling membrane, while other types of fixtures, like pot and pendant lights, can come through reinforced openings created during the ceiling installation. It is best to have lighting installed prior to the stretch ceiling. All fixtures must be anchored to the underlying ceiling structure. Stretch ceilings cannot support weight and remain flat.
For subterranean pools with little or no daylight, the challenge is to vary the ambiance during the day. Automated controls, electronic or computer-based, can be programmed to simulate natural lighting conditions. Because pool rooms are often simple, uncluttered spaces, and because swimmers and loungers tend to stare upward, stretched ceiling features can be used either to add interest, or to simulate an outdoor location. A translucent stretched ceiling covering lighting, with or without a multi-level ceiling or a shadow gap detail can be used to flood a space with light, creating the illusion of daylight streaming into the room without the glare of non-shaded, point-source lights.
Designers should keep in mind, however, artificial lighting will change the pool’s colour, and shining light through a stretched ceiling with colour or colourful graphics will change the pool’s colour even more. Expect water to appear more blue under fluorescent or LED lighting when using a black or white ceiling, and to take on any colour in the ceiling membrane as well. If a darker colour or graphic is selected for the ceiling, a designer may wish to enlist the services of an indoor lighting specialist to ensure adequate lamping, as darker colours will absorb light. High-gloss polymer film can mitigate this effect, but likely will not cancel it out entirely.
Environmental sustainability
For indoor aquatic facilities that are looking to renovate their pool areas, stretch ceilings provide a sustainable option as paint is eliminated from the process, thus eliminating any interior fumes, leftover paint and cans, and harsh chemical cleaning agents, which may be required for new paint to adhere. Eliminating replacement walls and ceilings for damaged or badly repaired drywall or plaster can keep tons of old material out of landfills and save on the transportation of new materials. Stucco ceilings would involve much heavier material and create much more mess, during removal and installation. Stucco also requires waterproof paint in wet rooms.
Stretch ceilings, on the other hand, allow an aquatic facility to change the finish and/or remove the ceiling much more easily. When tracks and membranes are cut at the factory, there is no waste left on site for disposal.
Esther Yates-Abrams writes blog posts, social media content and informational literature for Laqfoil Ltd., a Toronto-based manufacturer and installer of stretch ceilings. She is a recent graduate of Ryerson School of Interior Design in Toronto, Ont., with special interest in research and writing, and environmentally and socially responsible design. She can be reached via e-mail at esthera@laqfoil.com.
Melissa Gooding is the operations manager for Laqfoil Ltd. She has more than 10 years’ experience in marketing, operations, and new business development in the design and construction industries. She can be reached via e-mail at melissag@laqfoil.com.
