This is an example of a beach style pool in Sydney.

Design ideas for a midcentury pool in Sydney.

This is an example of a mid-sized contemporary backyard rectangular pool in Geelong with natural stone pavers.

This is an example of a beach style pool in Brisbane.

We were contacted by a family named Pesek who lived near Memorial Drive on the West side of Houston. They lived in a stately home built in the late 1950’s. Many years back, they had contracted a local pool company to install an old lagoon-style pool, which they had since grown tired of. When they initially called us, they wanted to know if we could build them an outdoor room at the far end of the swimming pool. We scheduled a free consultation at a time convenient to them, and we drove out to their residence to take a look at the property. After a quick survey of the back yard, rear of the home, and the swimming pool, we determined that building an outdoor room as an addition to their existing landscaping design would not bring them the results they expected. The pool was visibly dated with an early “70’s” look, which not only clashed with the late 50’s style of home architecture, but guaranteed an even greater clash with any modern-style outdoor room we constructed. Luckily for the Peseks, we offered an even better landscaping plan than the one they had hoped for. We proposed the construction of a new outdoor room and an entirely new swimming pool. Both of these new structures would be built around the classical geometry of proportional right angles. This would allow a very modern design to compliment an older home, because basic geometric patterns are universal in many architectural designs used throughout history. In this case, both the swimming pool and the outdoor rooms were designed as interrelated quadrilateral forms with proportional right angles that created the illusion of lengthened distance and a sense of Classical elegance. This proved a perfect complement to a house that had originally been built as a symbolic emblem of a simpler, more rugged and absolute era. Though reminiscent of classical design and complimentary to the conservative design of the home, the interior of the outdoor room was ultra-modern in its array of comfort and convenience. The Peseks felt this would be a great place to hold birthday parties for their child. With this new outdoor room, the Peseks could take the party outside at any time of day or night, and at any time of year. We also built the structure to be fully functional as an outdoor kitchen as well as an outdoor entertainment area. There was a smoker, a refrigerator, an ice maker, and a water heater—all intended to eliminate any need to return to the house once the party began. Seating and entertainment systems were also added to provide state of the art fun for adults and children alike. We installed a flat-screen plasma TV, and we wired it for cable. The swimming pool was built between the outdoor room and the rear entrance to the house. We got rid of the old lagoon-pool design which geometrically clashed with the right angles of the house and outdoor room. We then had a completely new pool built, in the shape of a rectangle, with a rather innovative coping design. We showcased the pool with a coping that rose perpendicular to the ground out of the stone patio surface. This reinforced our blend of contemporary look with classical right angles. We saved the client an enormous amount of money on travertine by setting the coping so that it does not overhang with the tile. Because the ground between the house and the outdoor room gradually dropped in grade, we used the natural slope of the ground to create another perpendicular right angle at the end of the pool. Here, we installed a waterfall which spilled over into a heated spa. Although the spa was fed from within itself, it was built to look as though water was coming from within the pool. The ultimate result of all of this is a new sense of visual “ebb and flow,” so to speak. When Mr. Pesek sits in his couch facing his house, the earth appears to rise up first into an illuminated pool which leads the way up the steps to his home. When he sits in his spa facing the other direction, the earth rises up like a doorway to his outdoor room, where he can comfortably relax in the water while he watches TV. For more the 20 years Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's fine neighborhoods.

Photo by Scott Pease
This is an example of a traditional backyard rectangular pool in Cleveland with a hot tub and concrete pavers.

Custom modern pool design
Photo of a large contemporary backyard custom-shaped pool in Miami with a hot tub and tile.

Jim Bartsch Photography
Large midcentury backyard rectangular natural pool in Santa Barbara with stamped concrete.

This is an example of a large contemporary backyard rectangular aboveground pool in Toronto with a hot tub and decking.

Nick Sargent
Photo of a contemporary pool in Miami.

Inspiration for a beach style pool in Boston.

This is an example of a large midcentury backyard rectangular infinity pool in Dallas with with privacy feature and stamped concrete.

Small modern backyard rectangular lap pool in Phoenix with with a pool and tile.

Inspiration for a modern pool in Los Angeles.

Inspiration for a modern pool in New Orleans.

Inspiration for a large mediterranean backyard rectangular pool in San Francisco with a pool house and natural stone pavers.

This is an example of a country backyard rectangular lap pool in San Francisco with a pool house.

Esta piscina de 3mx3m tiene las dimensiones perfectas para ampliar el espacio visual de este ático de Barcelona. Revestida interiormente en color verde y realizada la coronación y playa de la piscina en madera de Ipe. Iluminación mediante focos de LED que crean un ambiente acogedor.

These clients decided to make this home their Catalina Mountain homestead, after living abroad for many years. The prior yard enclosed only a small portion of their available property, and a wall obstructed their city lights view of northern Tucson. We expanded the yard outward to take advantage of the space and to also integrate the topography change into a 360 vanishing edge pool. The home previously had log columns in keeping with a territorial motif. To bring it up to date, concrete cylindrical columns were put in their place, which allowed us to expand the shaded locations throughout the yard in an updated way, as seen by the new retractable canvas shade structures. Constructed by Mike Rowland, you can see how well he pulled off the projects precise detailing of Bianchi's Design. Note the cantilevered concrete steps, the slot of fire in the midst of the spa, the stair treads that don't quite touch the adjacent walls, and the columns that float just above the pool water.