In the lap of luxury: the indoor pool is a glamorous new wellness must-have
No longer just a stuffy add-on for cold climate homes, indoor pools are acquiring a new, architecturally driven image, with cutting-edge designs using elevated materials.
Think of an indoor pool and it’s likely that a foggy space with a debris-strewn glass ceiling and the whiff of chlorine comes to mind. Conversely, an outdoor pool is considered the ultimate idyll, a refreshing respite on a warm sunny day.
Yet indoor pools are acquiring a new, architecturally driven image, with cutting-edge designs using elevated materials such as marble and granite.
Many architects are quick to dispel the notion that indoor pools are most popular with those living in cooler climates who want year-round use. For example, the private 25m wet-edge pool that Stephen Jolson of Jolson Architecture and Interiors designed for his Melbourne clients was driven by a desire to create a subterranean residential “wellness complex”, complete with a spa, steam room and change facilities, to “heighten the senses and evoke mindfulness”.
The owners wanted a serene, therapeutic space for swimming laps, reserving their secondary outdoor pool for summer entertaining.
Similarly, architectural practice Edition Office says it would be wrong to assume that residential indoor pools are simply mandated by the weather. “An indoor pool wasn’t an immediate request from our clients,” says director Kim Bridgland of a house he designed in Federal, NSW. Rather, the “swimming space” was inspired by experiential and sustainable factors.
“They wanted shade from the intensity of the summer sun but also had a strong desire to create a special experience, so we designed a passively cool retreat. This involved anchoring one end of the pool deep underground, with the opposite end opening onto a large aperture framing the sky and hinterland views.
“Cast from black-pigmented concrete and with textured black granite tiles, it feels like a cave or natural stream deep within a valley.”
Spatial limitations were the driving factor behind an underground pool at a heritage home in Albert Park designed by B.E. Architecture. While the location is highly sought after, the conservative land size drove the decision to put the pool below ground. “There’s a spa on the roof but a lap pool of any meaningful size was only possible by positioning it under the building,” says director of B.E. Architecture, Andrew Piva.
The pool, lined in large-format basalt paving that extends up the sides, also required a 6m excavation for depth – a feat that was “herculean” in scope.
“The works were commercial in nature and outside the realm of standard residential construction,” says Piva. “The confined areas made the degree of difficulty immense.”
The extra emphasis on air handling and conditioning of an indoor space outweighs the cost of standard pool construction, says Nathan Kinder, sales engineer at Aloha Pools, who worked on the project.
While it’s dependent on the requirements, a mid-sized domestic swimming pool can start at $180,000 for just the pool itself but exceed $500,000, with indoor pools at the higher end of the spectrum.
“Swimming pools located within covered spaces do not receive the UV exposure that outdoor pools do, placing greater emphasis on the filtration and maintenance of their hydraulic systems,” says Kinder. “This needs to be co-ordinated with the designer and mechanical engineers.
“Without proper system design, there can be various issues, such as high energy and water bills over time.”
Given that the services and amenities needed to be hidden for a clean-lined aesthetic, it was especially difficult.
“While the final outcome looks quite simple, there are layers of hidden construction that manage waterproofing of all surfaces,” says creative director of Source Architects David Sutherland.
He designed a garden pool pavilion surrounded by slabs of dolomite as part of a home extension in Orange, NSW.
The electricals, services, LED strip lighting and control panels are carefully integrated – even the audio system has been plastered into the walls to avoid moisture impact. “Everything about an indoor pool is more complex, but we are getting more requests and currently have another two pool houses of a similar size on the drawing board at the moment.”
Yet marrying safety standards with good design can be difficult.
“Working with requirements for pool safety to ensure that the experience is not dominated by the enclosure of the fence is a challenge that arises for all designers,” says Bridgland.
He resolved this problem in the Federal project by aligning the structural wall of the house against the surface of the pool and adding a discreet fence concealed within a garden.
New technologies that hide extraneous details allow designers to create minimalist spaces that lean towards calm tranquillity. Quieter, spa-like environments are gaining traction.
For the design of Jolson’s wet-edge indoor pool, backlighting the stone created a grotto-like refraction of light on the ceiling that when coupled with subdued colours “resonates with movement, texture, natural light and reflection”, he says.
