Pools
The shell, the shape and the edge — decided before anything else is.
Everything else on this page is a finish applied to a decision made here. Shell type sets what shapes are available, what it costs to build and how long it takes; edge type sets how the water meets the yard and how much equipment sits behind the scenes keeping it doing that. None of this is a product — it is how a pool is built.
9 of 9 pools in this category
- Shell construction
Shotcrete / gunite shell
Concrete pneumatically applied over a tied steel cage in the excavated hole. Any shape, any depth, any edge — this is how essentially every custom pool in San Diego County gets built.
- Shell constructionColour families — we hold no photograph of this finish on one of our own projects
Fibreglass shell
A one-piece shell moulded in a factory and craned into the hole. Fastest install by a wide margin and a smooth, non-porous interior — at the price of choosing from a catalogue of shapes and getting it down the side of the house.
- Edge & overflowColour families — we hold no photograph of this finish on one of our own projects
Vanishing edge
One wall is built down to water level so the surface runs over it into a catch basin below and is pumped back. The view trick — and a second pool, a second pump and a second thing to service.
- Edge & overflowColour families — we hold no photograph of this finish on one of our own projects
Perimeter overflow
The water runs over every edge into a slot all the way round, so the pool reads as a mirror flush with the deck. The most demanding edge to build; a millimetre of level error is visible from the house.
- Entry & shallowColour families — we hold no photograph of this finish on one of our own projects
Beach / zero entry
The floor rises to meet the deck so you walk in rather than step down. Costs surface area you might have wanted as swimmable water, and it is the single best thing you can do for small children and older knees.
- Entry & shallowColour families — we hold no photograph of this finish on one of our own projects
Baja shelf / tanning ledge
A wide shallow platform at one end, usually deep enough to sit a chair in. The most-used square footage in a lot of the pools we build, and it costs less to add at design than to wish for later.
- Pool typesColour families — we hold no photograph of this finish on one of our own projects
Raised spa with spillway
A spa built above pool level that overflows into it. Gives the yard a vertical element and the sound of moving water, and puts a tiled face at eye height that becomes a main visual decision.
- Pool typesColour families — we hold no photograph of this finish on one of our own projects
Plunge / lap pool
A small pool built to do one thing — cool off, or swim lengths. On a tight lot it is frequently the difference between having a pool and having a patio.
Pool typesNaturalistic pool
A shotcrete pool detailed to read as a pond or a swimming hole — boulder edges, irregular outline, dark interior. Every bit as engineered as a rectangle; it just does not admit to it.