View through curve onto pool + spa. LED lighting in the pool can be activated in different colours through the click of a remote control. Photography by Rachel Lewis.

Inspiration for a modern side yard custom-shaped lap pool in Alicante-Costa Blanca.

Design ideas for a small modern side yard rectangular lap pool in Valencia with tile.

Large side yard custom-shaped aboveground pool in Grand Rapids with decking.

Mid-sized contemporary side yard custom-shaped pool in Frankfurt with a hot tub and decking.

Inspiration for a contemporary side yard pool in Austin with a pool house.

This is an example of a small contemporary side yard rectangular pool in Melbourne with decking.

Hand made terracotta Italian tiles
Photo of a small mediterranean side yard pool in Other with tile.

A separate, detached pool house (presently under construction) featuring a south-facing sunning deck with a shade trellis above. A short bridge connects the pool house to the main residence.

The pool design of Bartlett residence is thought for the tropical climate of Costa Rica where sometimes there is high heat with burning sun and others there is heavy rain. The shape of the pool allows the user to have an exterior pool but also an indoor pool when the climate is too hot or if it is raining. //Gerardo Marín E.

Sun sets on the slope overlooking the 18 x 45 rectilinear swimming pool with cedar decking, a cedar-clad pool house and attached outdoor kitchen.
Design ideas for a mid-sized country side yard rectangular lap pool in New York with a pool house and decking.

A former dairy property, Lune de Sang is now the centre of an ambitious project that is bringing back a pocket of subtropical rainforest to the Byron Bay hinterland. The first seedlings are beginning to form an impressive canopy but it will be another 3 centuries before this slow growth forest reaches maturity. This enduring, multi-generational project demands architecture to match; if not in a continuously functioning capacity, then in the capacity of ancient stone and concrete ruins; witnesses to the early years of this extraordinary project. The project’s latest component, the Pavilion, sits as part of a suite of 5 structures on the Lune de Sang site. These include two working sheds, a guesthouse and a general manager’s residence. While categorically a dwelling too, the Pavilion’s function is distinctly communal in nature. The building is divided into two, very discrete parts: an open, functionally public, local gathering space, and a hidden, intensely private retreat. The communal component of the pavilion has more in common with public architecture than with private dwellings. Its scale walks a fine line between retaining a degree of domestic comfort without feeling oppressively private – you won’t feel awkward waiting on this couch. The pool and accompanying amenities are similarly geared toward visitors and the space has already played host to community and family gatherings. At no point is the connection to the emerging forest interrupted; its only solid wall is a continuation of a stone landscape retaining wall, while floor to ceiling glass brings the forest inside. Physically the building is one structure but the two parts are so distinct that to enter the private retreat one must step outside into the landscape before coming in. Once inside a kitchenette and living space stress the pavilion’s public function. There are no sweeping views of the landscape, instead the glass perimeter looks onto a lush rainforest embankment lending the space a subterranean quality. An exquisitely refined concrete and stone structure provides the thermal mass that keeps the space cool while robust blackbutt joinery partitions the space. The proportions and scale of the retreat are intimate and reveal the refined craftsmanship so critical to ensuring this building capacity to stand the test of centuries. It’s an outcome that demanded an incredibly close partnership between client, architect, engineer, builder and expert craftsmen, each spending months on careful, hands-on iteration. While endurance is a defining feature of the architecture, it is also a key feature to the building’s ecological response to the site. Great care was taken in ensuring a minimised carbon investment and this was bolstered by using locally sourced and recycled materials. All water is collected locally and returned back into the forest ecosystem after use; a level of integration that demanded close partnership with forestry and hydraulics specialists. Between endurance, integration into a forest ecosystem and the careful use of locally sourced materials, Lune de Sang’s Pavilion aspires to be a sustainable project that will serve a family and their local community for generations to come.

Product: Authentic Thick Limestone Pool Coping elements for pool edge Ancient Surfaces Contacts: (212) 461-0245 Email: Sales@ancientsurfaces.com Website: www.AncientSurfaces.com The design of external living spaces is known as the 'Al Fresco' space design as it is called in Italian. 'Al Fresco' translates in 'the open' or 'the cool/fresh exterior'. Customizing a contemporary swimming pool or spa into a traditional Italian Mediterranean pool can be easily achieved by selecting one of our most prized surfaces, 'The Foundation Slabs' pool coping Oolitic planks. The ease and cosines of this outdoor Mediterranean pool and spa experience will evoke in most a feeling of euphoria and exultation that on only gets while being surrounded with the pristine beauty of nature. This powerful feeling of unison with all has been known in our early recorded human history thought many primitive civilizations as a way to get people closer to the ultimate truth. A very basic but undisputed truth and that's that we are all connected to the great mother earth and to it's powerful life force that we are all a part of...

Interior / kitchen of the beautiful and functional pool house featuring slate flooring, stainless steel appliances, black granite counter top and recessed lighting.

This is an example of a contemporary side yard rectangular lap pool in Turin with decking.

Design ideas for a mid-sized contemporary side yard rectangular aboveground pool in Brisbane with with a pool and decking.

Photo of a large mediterranean side yard rectangular lap pool in Orange County with a pool house and concrete pavers.

Serving as the focal point of this formal courtyard garden, the reflecting pool adds charm and a sense of coolness to the space. The flagstone coping sits just above the brick walk. Minimalist plantings, mainly boxwood, reinforce the formal tone. Design and installation by Merrifield Garden Center.

This is an example of a mid-sized mediterranean side yard l-shaped lap pool in Houston with a hot tub and brick pavers.