SA’s best pools: stunning trends and incredible designs revealed
Backyard pools have never been more popular as we shift to at-home holidays due to COVID. Check these out for ideas, inspiration and a little pool envy.
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Adelaide and South Australia is a great place to live, especially in these challenging times, so it stands to reason we also have some of the greatest pools, ever.
We have scoured the state to find you the greatest pools South Australia has to offer as part of our Australia’s 100 Cool Pools project.
They will wow you, give you plenty of ideas and inspiration for your own backyard wonderland and also maybe, probably give you a bit of pool envy.
Check them out.
Party Out The Back, Cambridge Terrace, Malvern
This stunning courtyard pool takes up the majority of the backyard, built up to the house with stepping stones and resort style decking as striking features. Adjacent, walls of glass allow for stunning views from the inside while the clear, pale blue tiles make the water look pristine. Designed and built by Elite Pools and Landscapes, this property and pool is so stunning it became the grand prize home of the Home Lottery and won awards at previous years’ SPASA awards.
The Good Life, College Park
his pool project, by Mermaid Pool Constructions, was a gold winner in the Renovation over $25,000 category. While its design is simple, the wide steps are highly practical and white tiles create luminosity in the water.
It’s a striking combo with granite pavers edging the pool, decking and timber built-in seating and an alfresco pavilion and barbecue zone. A lush garden and lawn complement the pool that is fully fenced by glass partitions, so the family can have a clear, undisturbed view into the pool area.
Harbour Room, Swains Crossing Road, Victor Harbor
It’s bigger than most of the rooms inside this palatial Victor Harbor mansion and has breathtaking panoramic bushland views – what’s not to love about this indoor pool? Inside a pavilion that is front and centre of the sprawling home, it is by far the property’s standout feature.
The pool itself is 15m long and heated, while the pavilion surrounding it has soaring ceilings supported by ornate pillars, towering windows and feature staircases offering multiple access points around the house. There is also a spa to kick back and relax in and plenty of space surrounding the pool to entertain guests. It’s perfect year-round.
Lake Energy, Lomond Circuit, Mawson Lakes
Pools are great, but let’s face it, the maintenance can be a little off-putting for some. That’s not the case with this stunning Mawson Lakes number, with its online listing describing it as a “fenced self-cleaning heated mineral pool with mood-lit LED waterfall feature, sun deck, and lakeside backdrop.” There’s not a single part of that, that doesn’t sound idyllic. This pool really is for those that want to wow their guests while entertaining and it flows perfectly out from that stunning rear alfresco area. It’s the piece de resistance in an incredible home.
Skybarn House, Walkerville
Designed by Max Pritchard Gunner Architects, Skybarn House is created in three pavilions and central to it all is an internal garden and long, elegant concrete lap pool, finished in textural large format aqua tiles.
The long, narrow courtyard has ultimate privacy in its inner suburban setting, and the pool (by Elite Pools and Landscapes) and Japanese-style landscaped garden (by David Bapiste) can be seen from the elevated living pavilion, the long corridor, master bedroom and the guest pavilion at the far end. Surrounded by timber decking and screening, an overhead retractable pergola adds an industrial element and allows the pool to be used in any weather. This pool won the 2018 Winner Lap Pool – Concrete at the SPASA SA state awards.
Grasstrees House, Adelaide Hills
There’s more to this impressive wet edge pool than meets the eye. As it runs parallel to the home, which is affectionately known as Grasstrees House, it reflects picturesque sunsets, gum trees, yaccas and other breathtaking vistas that surround it.
Whether you’re cooling off in it on a warm summer day or admiring it as a form of ever-changing artwork that comes with the home, there is no denying this pool has a lot to offer. And what better spot to marvel at the panoramic views that surround the home with a glass of vino?
Balinese Kingdom, Mawson Lakes
After a summer afternoon or evening in this backyard pool, it would be easy to forget you’re not on an overseas tropical holiday. The modern Mawson Lakes home has a Balinese-inspired backyard, complete with a pool that has its very own sunken swim-upbar.
Pull up a pew, which is built into the pool, and sip on a cold bevy without even leaving the water – then when you’re done, dry off under the Bali hut. The house also has an outdoor kitchen and covered entertainment area so there is plenty of space to host large groups of guests for summer splash bashes.
Afternoon Zephyr, Gawler East
A large sloping block created the opportunity for a cascading, infinity edge lap pool that is more than 9m long, and spa combination. The result is outstanding, particularly with its light and dark tetris-like tiling pattern. The property’s size allowed for a long, high performance lap pool to sit alongside the 1900s bungalow, and at night it is transformed into an oasis by the stunning lighting.
The details are immaculate: a streamlined pool level to the paving, a series of shallow steps for ease of access, and a square spa just above the water level that is sheltered by a pergola making it usable in any weather, at any time of the year. It won 2020 gold winner of the Lap Pool – Concrete category, at both the state and national SPASA pool awards, for pool designer/builder Elite Pools and Landscapes
Azure Kingdom, Church Tce, Walkerville
Night time lighting can make a pool shine, as it does with this modern inground pool by Mermaid Pool Constructions. It won a highly commended in the Concrete Pool over $100,000 category at the state awards for its elongated shape that provides for a lap pool, pool seating and well located entry steps.
The white tiles give it a clear, clean look and the lighting plan is amazing, reflecting the home’s modern aesthetic. SPASA judges commented “The pool has a unique excellence where it blends in seamlessly with the house and sloping nature of the property which cannot be noticed.
Black and White, Alpha St, Kensington Park
The contrast of a black cube sitting within a pristine white tiled pool is a sleek, clean contemporary look that gives you backyard envy. This pool and spa design, by Mermaid Pool Constructions, won the gold for Pool and Spa Combination – Concrete category at SPASA’s national awards and is framed by a series of steel arms and surrounded by large format paving. Due to the lay of the land, the pool was built primarily out of the ground which makes the spa’s black cube stand out as the focal feature.
Another World, Sand Road, Jupiter Creek
Pools are meant to be fun, and this one looks like it was certainly made to be enjoyed. Set in the heart of the Adelaide Hills and offering gorgeous views over the surrounding gum trees, this gas and solar heated resort-style stunner is big enough to host even the largest pool party. Whether swimming laps for fitness or relaxing on the edge with a cocktail or a wine, there’s no denying this is one of SA’s most special pools. Coupled with that gorgeous fish statue, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were on holidays every day.
Beaumont Breeze, Beaumont
With a hillside setting and a three-storey home as its backdrop, this concrete infinity pool sits high above ground level and is simply stunning. This pool has some of the best views over Adelaide, and you can only imagine sipping cocktails at sunset in the seated pool zone.
Built by Urban Oasis, azure blue tiles give the water a vibrant deep blue colour and it must feel like you’re walking on water as you enter via the slightly submerged stepping stones. This pool won several awards at the 2020 SPASA pool awards, including Concrete Pool over $100,000, gold winner of Pool of the Year (state awards) and was highly commended in the Pool of the Year category at the national awards.
Brighton Beauty, King Street, Brighton
Can’t decide whether you want a to have a pool or a spa? Why not both? This stunning 25m half Olympic-length fully-tiled and gas and solar-heated pool spans the length of the house and is seamlessly incorporated into the outdoor entertainment area, so you can be in the pool and still feel like you’re part of the action.
It’s also got a beautiful spa for those cooler nights or a recovery session and offers easy access to a bath house with a spa and large fully-tiled walk-in shower. With the property offering stunning views over neighbouring Townsend House with its’ beautiful grounds, this one’s a cracker.
Aqua Sky, Travers Drive, Beaumont
There are indoor pools, and then there are indoor pools. This is the latter. Perched high on the hillside overlooking the suburbs, the city beyond and then the Adelaide waterfront beyond that, this gorgeous pool is ideally located and offers a view – particularly at night – that’s hard to beat.
This indoor gas-heated lap pool has your fitness needs covered year-round, or if soaking in a spa’s more your thing, you can do that too, all the while taking in those incredible vistas. Plus, with a barbecue area and kitchen nearby, you’ll need never go hungry while you swim again. Just remember to wait 20 minutes after eating before swimming. You don’t want to get a stitch.
Alpha Pool, Alpha Rd, Prospect, SA
There’s a certain school of thought that if something’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. That’s certainly the case in this home where every aspect of the property has been turned up to 11. But in the most wonderful way.
This breathtaking wet edge pool and spa sits under the main roof and perfectly joins the home’s stunning indoor and outdoor entertainment areas, blurring the boundary between the internal and external. It’s the perfect place to relax and unwind after a hard-fought session in the adjacent squash court, or after a long day tinkering away in the home’s incredible garage.
Elysian, Robe Terrace, Medindie
This incredible home is tipped to break the SA residential real estate record, so you’d naturally expect big things from its swimming pool. This property certainly doesn’t disappoint.
This resort-style stunner is a sight to behold – with its baja shelf and built-in spa set just off the pool pavilion and outdoor terrace, and overlooking a full-size tennis court, it’s about as good as it gets. But if you’re more of an indoor person, then you’ve also got the choice of the stunning 6.3m x 4m indoor spa – complete with striking water feature and feature lighting. If you demand the best, this is for you.
Hillside Hideaway, Carrick Hill Drive, Mitcham
Jump into this Mitcham home’s pool and you’ll feel like you can just keep on swimming into the horizon. The impressive infinity edged pool is perfectly positioned on the four-bedroom mansion’s hillside block to make the most of the sweeping views over Adelaide and out to sea.
It also has a spa, entertainment deck and a two-storey poolside pavilion, which includes a gym room or storage space, a bathroom that could double as a change room and a rooftop terrace. There is no doubt you would be the envy of all your friends with a pool as cool as this one.
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