Pool project blurs the line between interior and exterior

by jason_cramp | June 28, 2018 3:24 pm

By Michael Willis

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There has never been a more lucrative era than the present to be a professional working in the outdoor living industry. In all sectors of the trade—from pool construction to landscaping—the degree of intricate and creative designs are impressive. The pool industry has seen expedited growth and much of it can be attributed to human nature and the need to take time to relax, refresh, and rejuvenate. Today, many lead lives that are structured around earning an income and balancing time with family and friends. For some, making it through the workweek can be a stressful, hectic struggle. That said, the goal for most homeowners investing in an outdoor living project is to create a space for relaxation and serenity, a place in the backyard where one can escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. For pool builders, the big selling point is this retreat is obtainable for many homeowners just by taking a few steps out their backdoor.

Designing and building a custom home with a complementing backyard oasis ranks high on the bucket list for many homeowners. For one couple in Ottawa, Ont., this was their main objective. Although they had a moderately clear vision of what features they desired for their future home, the difficult task was finding the ideal location to build it.

The search

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After a lengthy search, they came upon some real estate for sale located along Ottawa’s historic Rideau Canal. The couple knew immediately this was their dream location. At the time of purchase, the large waterfront property featured an outdated bungalow perched above the waterway surrounded by overgrown and unmaintained landscaping.

Realizing the existing home was not salvageable or fitting of their vision, they decided to tear it down. Once the house was knocked down, the property essentially became a blank canvas for which the couple could start designing their future home. As part of this process, it was important the home met all of their ‘wants and needs.’ Further, it had to be built with quality materials and engineered to last, while at the same time the home had to reflect their individual taste and style.

One of the largest required components of the project was designing and building a pool and hot tub. As outdoor pools typically have a shorter season, this client opted for an indoor pool that would provide them year-round enjoyment. That said, the client wanted to incorporate the openness of an outdoor pool into the conveniences of an indoor design. Continuity between the interior and exterior spaces was essential, as was the need for both to appear as though they blended seamlessly.

Architectural inspiration

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The client had extensive experience designing and engineering commercial structures, but this would be their first venture into residential construction. Despite knowing the approximate dimensions and layout of the rooms in the home, and how the client wanted them to interact with each other, transforming their vision into reality required a team of knowledgeable and talented designers, contractors, and craftspeople. Enter Malcolm Wildeboer, an architect with Vandenberg & Wildeboer in Ottawa. His firm specializes in designing unique spaces that are respectful of the environment and reflect the character and needs of their clients.

His vision consisted of a stunning design, drawing influence from renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright and his iconic Prairie Style architecture. Subtle nods to one of the world’s greatest architects are visible with the home’s low-pitched rooflines, large overhanging eaves, and heavy use of glass openings. The inspired details continue within the home’s kitchen, and living and dining rooms, which merge to form a unified space with large windows to enhance the sightlines and create ‘infinity views’ from many vantage points. By incorporating this detail, the home almost appears to blend into its natural surroundings.

The indoor pool design was treated with the same approach, as it too shares brilliant ‘infinity’ viewpoints from the home. The concept was to have an aquatic feature that would be functional year-round without appearing like a traditional indoor pool. To achieve this, large floor-to-ceiling glass panels were used on three sides of the pool enclosure. These glass sections, each measuring 3 x 1.8 m (10 x 6 ft), open the pool area to the exterior landscaped patios and sitting areas. This helped blur the boundary between the interior and exterior spaces, while at the same time creating an open-concept layout that would give the homeowner the feeling of always being outdoors.

By walking out any of the openings, they can easily access one of the natural stone-paved patios, which flow from one side of the home to the other. Extending this transition further, the pool design incorporates an infinity edge (vanishing edge). When viewing the pool from inside the home—with the glass panels open or closed—there is a seamless transition between it and the adjacent natural body of water abutting the property. This offers the homeowner a view that very few waterscapes can rival, while the pool’s reflective qualities and mirror-like surface result in a striking appearance. A sleek, perimeter-overflow hot tub was positioned to one side of the pool to take advantage of one of the property’s best vantage points.

A lengthy build

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The overall construction process for this project was lengthy, spanning over three years from the client’s purchase of the property to the finished product. The design phase alone took close to a year to complete. In fact, the client demanded comprehensive plans and drawings, which are generally reserved for the trade workers and craftspeople who are overseeing the project’s construction. In the end, it was beneficial for all involved as even the most minor detail had been determined, ‘almost’ eliminating the possibility of error. Having the proper details on hand early on aided in avoiding budget overruns, unexpected delays, and general organizational issues. Large-scale projects such as this require detailed designs, extensive planning, diligent organization, and methodical project management.

The general contractor selected to handle the construction and management of this custom project was DC Snelling of Prescott, Ont. Their task was to keep all trades in order and oversee each component of the project from beginning to end. Not only did they oversee project management, but also contributed their own crews to complete the framing, roofing, and much of the interior finishing. Construction of the residence commenced in late fall 2015 and continued throughout the winter months, at which time the concrete foundation was poured and the wood framing for the walls and roof of the home were completed.

Due to the poor soil conditions found on-site, the pool room required extensive concrete foundation details and additional pilasters to support the structure. The pool was to be built inside the foundation structure of the pool room before the building was constructed; however, due to the uncertainty of the late fall weather, the forming of the pool was postponed until summer 2016. With the pool room having no overhead structure and exposed to the winter elements, the home’s footing and foundation was infilled with granular aggregates to provide frost protection. In the spring, it was reutilized as backfill around the pool during construction. Further, it also avoided having to truck the material to the site during seasonal load restrictions that are typically imposed in the spring.

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When spring arrived, along with the warmer weather, large laminated pine beams from Western Canada were delivered to the site. These beams, along with co-ordinating support posts, would bear the weight of the entire pool room structure and roof. With the beams on-site, the general contractor decided to proceed with the erection of the pool room structure, instead of starting with the forming and construction of the pool. By rescheduling these construction phases, it allowed the structure and pool to be built concurrently. Having the structure overhead was also a great benefit for the crew building the pool, as it sheltered them from the sun and allowed them to work more comfortably during the summer months.

With the building’s structure well under way, Roger Willis Contracting, an Ottawa-based watershape design/builder, completed the construction of the 5.5- x 11.1-m (18- x 36.5-ft) pool. It was built using cast-in-place concrete, which incorporated the use of insulated concrete forms (ICFs). By using this technology, the pool and hot tub walls would be completely insulated, which would reduce the amount of conductive heat loss through the pool and hot tub shells to the backfilled areas around them. Another benefit to using the cast-in-place forming method, in comparison to shotcrete construction, was the ability to form the structures to a more precise tolerance. This allowed the pool walls, infinity edge, troughs, and automatic cover bunker to be formed and poured as a single monolithic structure. Further, this ‘exact’ construction also meant minimal preparatory work was required when tiling and coating the pool and hot tub.

The pool’s footing, similar to the one supporting the house, was engineered to distribute the weight of the pool structure on the site’s poor soil conditions. Adding to the excessive engineering was the fact the pool floor was to span overtop massive ductwork for the pool room’s dehumidification system. Therefore, the pool’s floor was engineered and constructed to ‘bridge’ the gap where the ductwork sat beneath the pool.

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The pool and the hot tub share a connected overflow trough and surge tank due to their infinity edge and perimeter overflow design. The collection tank was formed adjacent to the pool structure, beneath the pool deck, and was made accessible via a concealed hatch. The purpose of this tank is to collect and recirculate the water that passes over these edges, as well as collect any water from bather displacement or wave action. A bunker was also formed at the shallow end of the pool to conceal an automatic safety cover. By incorporating the cover in the pool’s design, the humidity level in the pool room is decreased, allowing the home’s dehumidification system to operate more efficiently, which, in the long-term, conserves energy and reduces heating and cooling costs. Further, the cover helps reduce evaporative heat loss, as well as decrease chemical consumption, overall maintenance costs, and the need to top up the pool.

With the forming complete, the walls, floor, and other components of the pool and hot tub were finished in a single concrete pour. A standard boom pump was used to place the concrete, which turned out to be quite the challenge. The operator’s skill was put to the test, as there was no room for error when navigating the boom between the exposed laminated beams protruding from the ceiling above. Thankfully, no beams were damaged and all 100 m³ (3531 cf) of concrete was successfully poured-in-place. Once the concrete had cured sufficiently, the pool and hot tub, troughs, and surge tank were sealed prior to applying tiles and finish coatings.

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Aluminum tracks, which guide the pool’s automatic cover, were levelled and set in place before the bullnosed (rounded-edge) Eramosa limestone coping was installed along three sides of the pool. The top and backside of the vanishing-edge were lined with glass tile. Tiling the pool’s interior was relatively straightforward; however, completing the hot tub’s interior finish was a little more difficult, as the design specified it to be entirely surfaced with 51- x 51-mm (2- x 2-in.) tiles. In total, this accounted for more than 10,000 individual tiles.

Numerous hydrotherapy jets were also scattered throughout the hot tub, requiring each jet placement and contour to be measured and templated precisely. The templates and sheets of glass tile were cut off site with a special water-cooled, glass-cutting hole saw. This method saved countless hours of hand cutting the tiles, which the pool contractor had painstakingly experienced on a previous project.

With the tiling complete, a coating was thermally applied to the pool’s walls and floor. This coating comprises a colour blend of polymer powder that is fed pneumatically through a nozzle and simultaneously through a flame, melting the powder so it adheres to the surface.

Finishing details

Denise Hulaj and Jason Bellaire of StyleHaus, an Ottawa-based interior design firm, completed the home’s interior finishes. Their vision for this project was to give the design a contemporary, elegant look, while maintaining a warm, livable space. Having worked with Wildeboer on previous projects, the interior designers already shared a collaborative approach. With the architect’s guidance, the interior design team selected finishes that would complement and respect the home’s exterior architecture by borrowing many of the outer finish materials and bringing them inside. The most evident example of this can be found in the living room, sitting room, office, and pool room.

The design of these spaces incorporate the same natural limestone that is used to veneer sections of the home’s exterior. This stone, known as Eramosa limestone, originates from quarries in a northern area of southwestern Ontario. It is popular for its distinct ‘fleuri’ and heavy veining, with a dark to light brown colour and black undertones. Many other natural sourced materials can be found strategically placed throughout the home. Intricate dark wood trim details and millwork can be seen traversing the ceilings on the main floor. Flooring details delicately converge between wide plank hardwoods to multiple varieties of porcelain tile.

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The pool area continues to impress with its own variety of finishing details, including its dark-blue interior finish, which creates ideal reflections of the trees surrounding the property or evening sunset. Handmade glass tile imported from California was used on several areas of the pool, including the perimeter waterline, top and backside of the infinity edge, and the step markers. This tile was also used to line the entire hot tub. This custom blend of tile incorporates steel blue, bronze, and silver tones with a gold iridescent metal oxide.

Sunlight and the ripple of waves causes the tile to reflect and shimmer, creating a stunning visual array of colours. The deck surface surrounding the pool is capped with large rectangular slabs of Eramosa limestone. The flamed surface texture is achieved by passing a torch over top of the stones causing it to spall and flake, leaving a rough texture while accentuating the unique veining and colouring. Each stone measures 457 mm (18 in.) in width with random lengths—some exceeding 1.8 m (6 ft) and weighing more than 91 kg (200 lbs).

Under the hood

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The ability to design the house, pool, and landscaping in unison has many benefits. Floor plans cannot only be tweaked to maximize functionality between interior and exterior areas, but also every feature can be thoroughly integrated, extending the home’s living space. Another great attribute is incorporating in tandem the sharing of some of the support systems of the house with the pool. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) units, potable water purification system, and the pool and hot tub circulation equipment were all located in designated mechanical rooms in the basement. Although these rooms appeared to have plenty of space in the project’s blueprints, much of it was exhausted with the extent of equipment that had to be installed on the floor and walls.

The automation system that was installed resembles something one might see in a commercial boiler room or submarine. It controls all of the pool and hot tub mechanisms, including the circulation equipment, heaters, and lights. The system can be controlled remotely using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet and offers the ability for service technicians to monitor the system off site. Three variable-speed pumps (VSPs) were installed, two on the pool and one on the hot tub. The automation system controls the pumps, as well as their speed, to minimize energy consumption while maintaining an adequate turnover rate to recirculate the water through the filtration system.

A cartridge filtration system, capable of filtering to the smallest micron, was installed not only for its debris holding capacity, but also because it does not require backwashing, which helps reduce water wastage. Pool and hot tub sanitation is controlled by two ozone and ultraviolet light (UV) systems. These units operate as the primary forms of sanitation to provide balanced water that is almost chemical free. Additional booster pumps were installed to raise the water level of the pool and hot tub to achieve the infinity edge overflow, as well as an additional two-speed pump to handle the massage jets in the hot tub. A dedicated natural gas-fired boiler with titanium heat exchangers was installed to heat both bodies of water. Also tied into this system is an in-floor radiant heating loop, which is embedded into the concrete deck surrounding the pool to provide the homeowners a warm surface to walk on.

Energy-efficient coloured light-emitting diode (LED) lights provide pool and hot tub illumination. These lighting systems were selected for their low-voltage requirement, long-life expectancy, and colour changing capability. Finally, as the homeowners are active members at a nearby aquatic facility, they intended on using their new pool for daily aquatic exercise. To accommodate their needs, two large swim jets powered by a dedicated four-horsepower pump with 152-mm (6-in.) plumbing were installed in the pool. These jets create a user-adjustable current for bathers to swim against, allowing them to swim on the spot instead of swimming the full length of the pool.

Having reached and exceeded the client’s expectations, the home and pool installation stands out as a unique and remarkable feat. A project of this magnitude can only come to fruition with the vision and talent of many skilled trade workers, contractors, engineers, architects, and designers. As a result, this project earned a gold award in the Pool & Hot Tub Council of Canada’s (PHTCC’s) 2017 Design & Construction Awards, a gold award in the 2017 Master Pools Guild Awards of Excellence, and a 2018 Award of Excellence from the Landscape Ontario Horticultural Trades Association. The project also received the Casey van Maris Award from Landscape Ontario, which is given to the project that is awarded the highest marks for execution of unique and innovative design in landscaping.

Micha[11]el Willis is an aquatic designer and partner at Roger Willis Contracting Ltd., an Ottawa-based pool builder specializing in unique, custom aquatic projects. He works in various fields—from project design to completion—and builds throughout eastern Ontario and the Caribbean. Willis is a member of the Master Pools Guild, Pool & Hot Tub Council of Canada (PHTCC), and Landscape Ontario Horticulture Trades Association. He can be reached via e-mail at michael@rogerwilliscontracting.com[12].

Source URL: https://www.poolspamarketing.com/trade/features/case-studies/pool-project-blurs-line-between-interior-exterior/

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