How to design your own poolside paradise
Private pools provide both tranquillity and excitement, literally just outside your back door. But a relaxing pool is useless without the surrounding area to enjoy it.
By Inoxstyle and James Wormald
April 11, 2022 | 10:00 pm CUT
The right seating, lighting, heating, the surfaces they sit on and the structures they sit in, like this Kettal lounge pavilion, all combine to create stylish and practical poolsides
With more time spent poolside than in the water itself, the cost, time and effort put into poolside design pays dividends when it comes to long-term usability
The perfect pool to patio ratio is 50/50, centering the pool allows access on all sides, while pushing it to one side as Piscines Carré Bleu does here, gifts additional privacy and shade
Pool vs patio: what is the best ratio?
When drawing up the size, it’s tempting to squeeze in as much water as you can, but be warned, every sqm sacrifices valuable patio space. As a rule, water and patio coverage should be split 50/50, straight down the middle. While literally positioning the pool like this, up against an edge or corner, maximises usable space in tighter areas and enhances privacy and shade, safety considerations must also be kept in mind to ensure all areas of water are immediately accessible.
These limestone Altamira Rosal Vintage tiles provide excellent tactile and absorbent surfacing for poolside patios
Hardline on hardscaping
Once you know the space requirements, the patio or deck’s surface material is the next design decision. Complementing other areas of the patio or house’s architecture with natural stone like Altamira Rosal Vintage, for example, is a popular choice. The limestone tiles’ natural absorbency cuts down on slippage and dries quickly.
Composite wooden Ecolegno decking from Saimex (top) offers a choice of colours, finishes, grains and grooves while ultra-tactile podoalerte tiles from Marcal Signalétique improve safety (bottom)
Gio Chaise longue by B&B Italia (top), the Tosca Daybed by Tribù (middle) and Kettal's lounge pavilion (bottom) all provide comfortable areas of rest to while away the hours while staying dry
Sit and rest awhile
You can’t just swim and walk around the edge all day, of course. Poolsides need comfortable places to rest while basking in the sun or the enjoyment of others. Sun-loungers provide great all-round comfort, their lightweight manoeuvrability catching the best of the light or shade. Loungers like the Gio Chaise longue by B&B Italia even include their own matching side table to rest imperative accessories like books, sunglasses or cocktails.
Parasols with a central pole like Barlow Tyrie's tilting Napoli parasol (top) or cantilevered contraptions like markilux planet awnings (bottom) bring moveable and adjustable shade to seated areas
Throwing shade: from parasols to trellises
Summer houses aren’t the only way to get respite from the midday sun, of course. Centrally stabilised parasols offer a well-balanced escape inside their circumference, with adjustable tilting options like the Napoli parasol by Barlow Tyrie able to easily move its shade throughout the day.Like well-serving butlers, cantilevered parasols remain on hand when required and silently blend into the background when not
Sefar's Sail Sculpture designed by Amandus VanQuaille for The Nomad Concept (top) or growing cabled trellises like Jakob's wire rope net (bottom), can stretch permanently-fixed shade over larger areas
Heatsail's Dome pendant (top) brings both light and heat to outside areas, while Innermost's Asteroid table lamps (bottom) create a romantic atmosphere, extending usable hours for outdoor spaces
24-hour lighting
These shading structures that enclose seated or swimming areas have the advantage of a strong joist on which to fix lighting or heating, like Heatsail’s Dome pendant, which does both, allowing well-lit and -warmed pool areas to remain usable well into the evening.
Recessed underfloor and underwater lighting like L&L Luce&Light's Moby (top) or ASB GlassFloor's Lumiflex pool video floor (bottom) bring mysterious or entertaining visuals into the water itself
Inoxstyle's Melody Cylinder shower has the capacity and power to serve up to four outdoor shower heads at once to reduce post-swim queuing, while the installed appliance can also include foot-showers
Hygiene: pool showers
Whether it’s an early morning or late evening dip, a quick ten laps before breakfast or a day under the canopy with a good book, pool showers provide nearby refreshment to both body and mind, without the chilly run inside leaving wet footprints on the carpet. There are options to fit any poolside style, but those with multiple shower heads such as the two-, three- or four-berth Melody Cylinder from Inoxstyle reduce queuing to shirk the day's chlorine or suncream in the cold air.Project Gallery
