So, Why A Pool Designer?
If you are looking at adding a pool to your property you have no doubt already mulled over the various benefits. An experienced Pool Designer is a must, bringing to the design team a whole new perspective and valuable experience.
For some it is an addition to provide an exercise facility, with perhaps a swimming machine, a steam room and a spa to massage away the aches of a long day. An adjacent gym with state of the art exercise machines in a cool air conditioned segregated glass room adds to the “leisure centre at home”. Your pool designer will have previous examples and past drawings to demonstrate.
Pools are often a near essential for those with ailments. The weightlessness offered by water and the ease with which otherwise difficult exercising can take place can ensure a pools place in the rehabilitation or life prolonging programme of certain conditions.
For others it is a place for the youngsters and their friends to play safely, under the watchful eyes of the parents. It can be a holiday location at home, ensuring every weekend is like a mini break. Your social life will revolve around it.
With subtle lighting and a decent view the romantics will love nothing better than settling down by the pool with a glass of their favourite tipple, and their loved ones of course!
Many find that they want to reward their hard work with an undeniably lavish expenditure, with water features, neck massage canons and the top of the range tiled steam facilities such as Tepidarium’s and Hamams.
Of course whilst all this will drain the bank account, do it right and there is no reason that that expenditure will not be an investment, returned immediately in the form of a market value increase on the house it is installed in.
For those lucky enough to be able to afford one, there are endless reasons to invest. Our job as pool designer is to ensure that what you have designed for you fits your needs and is easily maintained whilst protecting itself against damaging moisture.
Pool design to the end user is understandably normally limited to the size and shape of the pool, the materials it is decorated with and perhaps the building shape, interior decorations and lighting. The local landscaping and planting will also need consideration. For the pool designer / engineer these important aspects have to be considered in conjunction with the more technical traits.
The practicality of the build, how easy it will be to import and export materials from the site and whether the excavation will pose a problem to the stability of the rest of the building. The timing of the works needs to be accounted for since some works are far better undertaken in the summer than winter. An experienced pool designer will be considering these issues and not just the final appearance.
The usage of the pool will affect details such as depth and where a diving pool is considered appropriate depths and pool side markings must be considered. For younger users shallow ends are invaluable to give parents peace of mind and it should be remembered that automatic covers are not just energy conservation devices. They can be safety devices to, limiting access by a key operated switch arrangement.
Water circulation inlet and outlet locations in conjunction with correctly sized pumps, filters and pipework will ensure that the water is cleansed and circulated in accordance with the design bather load. Sanitising the water may include Ultra Violet, Ozone and small quantities of Chlorine or similar products. With correct maintenance there is no excuse for water that is not crystal clear.
The style of pool is important to owners and engineers alike. Deck Level pools are stunning to look at but the addition of overflow channels, deck gratings and a balance tank system all need to be considered early in the design process. Freeboard pools, whilst not so glamorous require slightly less space and equipment which can make for easier ownership.
Sometimes more practical matters need to be considered. The property may be located in a location where it will never achieve a major uplift in price. In these situations the add on value to the property may be limited by the location and spending a larger budget on a more luxurious pool may not make long term financial sense.
Aqualia’s pool designs staff have a wealth of knowledge to share on the design of pools and this knowledge is best shared as early as possible in the design process. Our extensive experience allows us to provide invaluable input to the architectural team to ensure that the design is created with the pool and its specialist environmental control plant in mind. Even more important is that the building designers take on board our experiences in eradicating common pool building problems such as vapour control layer issue and cold bridging both of which can lead to damaging interstitial and surface condensation. Condensation problems these days are rarely due to the dehumidification system and building issues can be very difficult to resolve retrospectively. Our facebook site also includes regular updates on trouble shooting of problem buildings https://www.facebook.com/aqualiapools/?ref=hl