The design
Embracing nostalgia and the bygone era, Hampton embarked on a journey to revive a 1958 Shasta Airflyte trailer into a unique pool house. Honouring the client’s desire for a whimsy and vintage look, the designer crafted a meticulous refurbishment plan. Preserving the trailer’s iconic features while infusing modern functionality, this project is a fusion of old-world allure and contemporary utility.
Hampton crafted a rectangular concrete vinyl liner pool using insulated concrete form (ICF) technology. This included a tanning ledge coupled with a dropped-edge wall that incorporated an infinity illusion, allowing the client to have a swim-up effect. Having to raise the pool by building up introduced further complexities.
To meet the challenge of elevating the pool, Hampton faced the intricacies of excavating the native soil and providing new structural fill, particularly challenging due to the slope of the property and limited access for material placement. In response to this, Hampton engineered and installed a concrete sub retaining wall under the pool shell to maintain stability on the slope. This sub process of infill and geotechnical requirements took more than a month to complete.
Amidst the challenges of the terrain and the intricate engineering involved, the pool design itself emerged as elegant, with a blend of minimalism and sophistication. The pool’s blueprint embraced a straightforward yet captivating concept with a sleek oblong embracing the water’s expanse, reaching toward a vista, accentuated by the arch overhead, and the inclusion of three arched railings.
The use of the arch in the design owes its inspiration to fractals. A fractal describes a geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is a reduced-scale copy of the whole. The fractal came to life in the design, starting with the round sunken fire pit, flowing through the art pedestals, and ending with the round hot tub. These detailed structures mimic natural forms, and the fractal offers a visual symmetry that brings harmony directly through the design. Every detail was thoughtfully considered, including the pool liner, which was custom-made to incorporate the curved fractal.
