16 Boxy Modern Pools For This Summer
Wright Feldhusen Architects designed this house for a client that loves to swim. A lap pool connects the home to the ocean that lies beyond the property in Maroubra, Australia, a suburb of Sydney.
The reflecting pool is surrounded by foliage and breathtaking views of the bay.
Ryan Anderson of RAD Furniture designed the stools as well as the table and benches on the pool deck.
A pool is still the focal point of the courtyard, but its modernized, streamlined design makes a dramatic statement.
The small pool at the top of the landing provides the family with a place to cool off.
The back of the home glows at night as the giant, two-story glass doors swing open to remove the barrier between inside and out. A polished concrete patio deck and pool, along with a simple block perimeter wall, make smart use of available materials. The pool acts as a passive conditioning tool, cooling air before it enters the house. The block wall is positioned 31 inches from the house, creating a gap or "air chimney" that allows air to circulate up and away from the home, while simultaneously letting light filter down.
Florida couple John Pirman and Steve Tetreault built a new house inspired by the Sarasota School. Today’s FEMA codes required a plinth to lift the house five-and-a-half feet above grade and a roof that can withstand hurricane wind loads, making it a challenge to re-create the lightness of midcentury design, Pirman says.
Architect Burton Baldridge’s design for a house in Austin features a cantilevered upper volume with a gabled profile that was in part inspired by the work of Dutch architects MVRDV. It juts out over the patio, outfitted with chaise longues by Harbour Outdoor and Adirondack chairs by Loll.
To the south, a small soaking pool sits outside Austin’s studio, where he’ll often lie and meditate: "I’m a great floater, and can look at the clouds for an hour everyday," he says. The adjacent wall was coated with smooth sand plaster finish to accommodate video and film projections by night.
Groupings of succulents accent the home’s entry path and pool area.
"The owners envisioned a place that engaged with the outdoors while providing accommodating spaces for their off-season training for triathlons," Flato notes. A 75-foot-long lap pool on the west end of the home comes in handy during practice.
A seeded concrete walkway leads from the rear driveway—the entrance used most often—and into the yard. To create the look, each river rock was hand-placed in the wet concrete.
"Exposing the craft and detail of the materials was a key part of the design," Flato notes. The texture of the house, he says, can be observed in the concrete retaining wall for the lap pool.
The geometric pool also captures views of the lush landscape.
Wildlife are frequent visitors here, but the area’s active woodpeckers aren’t very welcome, so the house is clad in corrugated metal siding by Recla Metals.
Though the front of this 1880s home in Adelaide, Australia, maintains a traditional facade due to strict heritage laws, the rear is modern eye candy at its best. See more of the home.
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