How Designers and Builders are Shaping Artful Pools and Outdoor Spaces

The best pool designs combine luxury and looks with form and functionality, leading to the creation of custom projects that are every bit as opulent as the properties they live on.

Here are some of the over-the-top pool projects that are making a splash as works of art.

A Grand Design for a 75,000-Gallon Pool

The 2,000-square-foot palatial pool set on a lakeside bluff overlooking Fort Worth, Texas, is a tribute to team effort and a testament to craftsmanship and the latest technology.

Designed by Kyle McDaniel of McDaniel Custom Design, it was constructed by Guy Wood of Westside Pools & Service, engineered by Dave Peterson of Watershapes Consulting and features mosaic tile designed and installed by Mosaicist, Inc.

The project, which McDaniel calls a “challenge and opportunity,” called for a grand design centered around a 75,000-gallon pool.

“The primary challenge was meeting the client’s demand that the pool not interrupt the view from the magnificent windows across the back of the home in any way yet still allow the pool itself to be seen and appreciated from that same vantage point,” McDaniel says. “The hope was to see both the pool and the vista beyond without one interrupting the other.”

With this mandate in mind, McDaniel designed a neoclassical pool that follows the contours of the hillside and that channels modernism in the back with an all-tile 360-degree overflow spa and 50 linear feet of acrylic tile that produce a vanishing edge. The two elements are connected by a tiered cascade of small pools leading from the spa to the main pool below. The 75-foot lap pool becomes a platform for the display of Corral’s tile mosaic.

Because of the steep elevation change – the land drops 13 feet from the house to the lower deck – Watershapes Consulting installed heavily reinforced concrete piers and beams, using poured-in-place concrete and wet shotcrete for the walls and key features.

*SAADE photos by Danny Riley of Riley V Photography*

The pool features a geothermal heating and cooling system from Excel Geothermal in Dallas that, McDaniel says, allows it “to stay at a comfortable swimming temperature for the entire year at a minimum associated energy cost. Additionally, the clients can heat their oversized spa to a roaring 105 degrees by borrowing the heat from the earth’s crust below.”

The pool also has an advanced mechanical system supplied by Pentair Pool Products, illuminated cascade bubblers and spillways, advanced LED lighting, walnut travertine decking and an underwater sound system.

“For those wishing to push the boundaries of luxury pool design,” McDaniel says, “this build serves as an inspiring example of what is possible when expertise and vision align.”

It’s What You Can’t See That Counts

Sometimes it’s the invisible elements, such as acrylic panels, that make the most dramatic statements.

For the rooftop pools at The House Condos Dallas, Pure Design and Elemental Acrylic used an acrylic-framed edge to define, totally transparently, stainless steel spas engineered by Bradford Products, creating uninterrupted views of the city’s dramatic skyline.

The project was a logistical challenge, says Pure Design and Elemental Acrylic owner Nick Hauk, that required closing parts of the street to lift the structures into place.

“These spas prove that high-rise pool and spa design can be both visually stunning and structurally sound,” Hauk says, adding that the acrylic and stainless-steel combo “maximizes aesthetic appeal and weight efficiency” to create “luxurious urban retreats.”

Pure Design and Elemental Acrylic used a similar technique on an elevated pool in Dallas that seamlessly transitions to a sunken spa. The transparent acrylic edge makes the pool look as though it’s floating, and Hauk says, “allows for visual continuity between the water’s edge and the surrounding grounds, whose landscaping and lighting “enhance its ambience, offering a resort-style experience in a private residential setting.” He notes that the design “allows light and water to interact dynamically, creating a pool that feels weightless and immersive.”

For a Dallas rooftop project, Pure Design and Elemental Acrylic created an acrylic-framed spa that offers panoramic views of the downtown.

Small Size, Big Statement

Some of the most innovative projects are those that make maximum use of minimum space.

In the case of a house in Jupiter, Florida, the space was so tight and the grade change so drastic that none of the other homeowners in the neighborhood had ever attempted to add a pool.

The clients commissioned Cristallo Pool/Backyard Concepts (now part of Innovative Outdoor Living) to design and install their big idea – an infinity-edge pool, a spa, a sunning spot, a fire pit and an outdoor kitchen – in a lushly landscaped setting.

Cristallo created a Lautner-edge system with a hidden water-collection trough that appears to be growing in the landscape. It’s designed to create the illusion that the pool flows directly into the greenery, blurring the boundaries between modern design and nature.

The boutique-style pool has a sun shelf, a champagne-style spa equipped with 10 floor jets and 16 adjustable therapy wall jets, and a submerged seating area with a table. In addition, there’s a swim area with a sport-slope depth that runs the length of the property.

At the back of the pool, a raised wall with scuppers feeds into a three-sided champagne-style fountain, spilling into the pool and hidden trough.

“To complement this effect, we incorporated fire bowls using Fire by Design submerged fire manifolds, creating a dramatic display where flames rise through the water,” says company co-owner Scott A. Miller, who adds that the result is “a stunning fusion of fire and water that adds an element of dynamic contrast.”

In another project, a South Florida couple commissioned Cristallo to transform their backyard poolscape, which was outdated and overgrown.

In a courtyard that seamlessly connects to the house, they envisioned a rectilinear pool with a sun shelf and a swim lane in a low-maintenance and sleek design.

The heart of the design is a champagne-style spa, which is the focal point from every viewpoint. It and the sun shelf, which are reached via floating stepping stones, are on the side of the main house, leaving room for the 35-foot swim lane to extend toward the back. A raised linear column that has water scuppers was sited at the rear of the pool, which has a PebbleSheen Ocean Blue finish.

The 4,000-square-foot courtyard deck is made of Milano porcelain and includes artificial turf with stepping stones. A 4-inch channel filled with polished river rock frames the pool.

A plain brick wall that separates the property from the neighbor’s became a dynamic visual element with the addition of an aluminum arbor that has a rainwater feature and LED lighting. Trees in planters, placed to conceal views of the neighbor’s windows, form a natural privacy screen. “Every aspect – from the lanai ceiling color to the placement of doors and windows – was considered to create a harmonious flow throughout the space,” says Miller, adding that these two projects illustrate the company’s credo that “every back yard should be truly unique – never replicated.”

Photos by Cristallo Pool/Backyard Concepts (now part of Innovative Outdoor Living) | For a project in South Florida, Cristallo Pool/Backyard Concepts (now part of Innovative Outdoor Living), created a rectilinear pool, a sun shelf and a swim lane that are in sync with the home’s new aesthetic.

Photos by Cristallo Pool/Backyard Concepts (now part of Innovative Outdoor Living)

In a small backyard space in Jupiter, Florida, Cristallo Pool/Backyard Concepts (now part of Innovative Outdoor Living) created a boutique poolscape with an infinity-edge pool, a spa, a sunning area, a fire pit and an outdoor kitchen.

Mosaic Tiles, a Designer’s Dream

Riding the wave of customization, designers are turning to glass-tile mosaics to create aquatic retreats with a variety of colors, finishes and designs that reflect the personal taste and style of the pool owner.

To complement an ultra-modern resort-style house in West Palm Beach, Kyle Osler of RPD Custom Pools and PLA Design used AquaBlu’s Aura Black mosaic glass tile, which has a three-dimensional, raised semicircle design and an iridescent finish, to wrap the spa and highlight the pool’s accent and water-feature walls.

Elements Pools and Spas in Sarasota, Florida, created a shimmering oasis at a private residence on Anna Maria Island using AquaBlu’s Whitestone, a geometric white triangular glass mosaic tile, making the spa and pool shine with gold metallic grout.

To bring his client’s vision to life, Shawn Schafer of Schafer Pools & Spas in California worked with AquaBlu to create a custom 10-foot-long by 4-foot-high handcrafted octopus mural wall that’s positioned under a cascading water feature that makes it look as though the creature is swimming. Schafer says that the project “serves as a testament to the limitless artistic possibilities offered by glass-tile mosaics.”