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| By PJ BREMIER | | |
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| March 24, 2001 | | |
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| WHETHER KIDNEY-shaped, salt-water, lap-lane or Olympic-sized, pools are a mainstay of many home landscapes in Marin. | |  |
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| What happens, though, when you move the pool indoors? | | | | | | |
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| | | INDOOR/OUTDOOR POOL:
Steel and opalescent glass fixtures shaped like little houses light the patio of the Naylor's pool. |
| You get year-round swimming, low heating bills and lower maintenance, say the owners and designers of two recently installed indoor pools in Marin. | |
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| Yet, to do it successfully requires a thoughtful blending of the enclosure with the landscape, not only to prevent the building from looking like a big box in the yard, but also to create a stimulating and inviting environment inside. If paired with a windowed surround, indoor pools can celebrate the natural beauty of the environment while extending the swimming season. |
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| A pool with a view | | |
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| When it comes to the basic design of an
indoor pool house, Gene Kunit, landscape architect and president
of Gene Kunit & Associates of Sebastopol and Oakland, sees
"two ways of approaching it. The building either matches
the existing house and becomes more of an extension - an
indoor room with a pool - or the approach I take where the building is separate
- (it) becomes a different room." |
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This appealed to John and Anita Naylor of Peacock Gap,
who chose an indoor pool primarily to minimize their
sun exposure. They also wanted a pool they could use
year-round, as their home is located in a cooler
section of San Rafael, with afternoon winds.
"We're both big water people," says Naylor,
"and we love to swim all year." |
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| Their 16-foot-by-38-foot pool and spa,
completed two months ago, is separated from the house by a
broad flight of stairs and enclosed by a 25-foot-by-60-foot
wood and copper building. Seven-foot high panels of
energy-efficient, tempered glass completely surround the pool. "You don't have the enclosed feeling that you do in a commercial indoor pool," Kunit says. "I wanted it to have a residential, warm feeling." |
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| Naylor thinks it's even better than being at home. "It's like you're on vacation. It's just a wonderful experience." |
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| Part of that experience is that the Naylors swim in a salt-water pool. "John did a lot of research," she says, "before he settled on the unconventional choice. Not only does it require less chlorine to maintain, but the water just feels so silky on your skin." |
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| They also did a lot of research on their landscape architect and are glad they did. "We're amazed," she says. "It turned out better than we could ever imagine. We had all these hopes, we interviewed a lot of landscapers," but after interviewing Kunit, "we knew he was the one for us. Then I came to find out he was in Better Homes and Gardens and had won awards." | |
FALLING WATER: From this pool with a waterfall |
| | | cascading from the ceiling , |
| Having the pool house relate to nature was important to the Naylors, who describe themselves as "nature people." Kunit kept that in mind when designing the | | John and Anita Naylor see redwood trees, an orchard, Japanese maples and wildlife at their San Rafael home. |
| pool house and the landscape around it. He chose | | |
| a lush, tropical interior landscape of banana plants, birds of paradise, ferns and Japanese maples to soften the feel of the building. These plants are naturally suited to the greenhouse conditions of the pool house - natural light from the windows and the warmth emanating from the heated pool. |
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| Outside, redwood trees and Japanese maples have been planted. "That was important," says Kunit, "because when you're swimming and look out, I didn't want you to feel like you were swimming in a building, but that you were outdoors, and that the building and the pool are part of the landscape." |
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| That's the feeling Naylor says her family experiences when they swim. "When we're in the water, we can look up to the sky and into the hills and see the trees," says Naylor. They also can see deer run on the upper slope, hawks fly overhead, and finches, quail and a family of frogs foraging through the garden. "The back yard is a place for the senses. You can hear the wind rustle the bamboo, smell the fragrant flowers, and we have wonderful spaces." |
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| To further heighten their sensory experience, speakers connected to a sound system were installed underwater, and a slender pipe mounted above bisects the pool to create an indoor waterfall. "It reminds me of going on a hike in Hawaii," says Naylor, "where they have beautiful pools and waterfalls to stand under. The sound and feel of the falling water in the pool is so intense." |
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| Wide steps were built into the shallow end so children could sit and play comfortably, and additional seating was created at the deep end. Skylights and windows allow fresh air into the enclosure, while a humidifier prevents fog buildup and mildew. |
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| The ceiling of the pool house is composed of three woods with glue-laminated beams, allowing a low-profile building and an unencumbered span over the pool, eliminating the need for posts. Amber and brown stain on the concrete walls carries the feel and the warmth of the wood and the Mayan tiles that flow from the patio into the building. This detail helps to blur the transition from exterior to interior. For lighting, Kunit chose low-voltage spotlights along one interior wall and designed steel and opalescent glass fixtures, shaped like little houses, for the outdoor pool patio. |
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| "When I was designing them," Kunit says, "I was thinking about the lighting in a painting of two girls by Sargent. I wanted that same lighting, a soft glow outside the pool house." |
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| There were several challenges to the project, not the least of which was negotiating the site. "The hillside was very rocky and the access was bad, which can affect the cost. I use a company that specializes in tight-access construction." Retaining walls were installed to hold the hillside, and they became part of the design and foundation, blending the building into the landscape. |
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| In Marin, the price tag for bringing outdoor swimming inside can range from $70,000 to $90,000 for the pool, with another $100,000 to $200,000 for the enclosure, depending on construction methods and materials. |
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| Although the initial outlay for an enclosed pool is expensive, Kunit says monthly savings on heating can offset it. "By installing a retractable pool cover, heating costs and energy consumption can be a third off the energy and cost used to heat an outdoor pool. It can be a savings of $600 a month." |
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| "We don't have the pool heater going the way someone with an outdoor pool would," says Naylor. "It's really made a difference for us. With the weather we've had, we definitely wouldn't have been swimming at all this year. It's like being in the Garden of Eden. It satisfies all the senses. I can't wait for it to grow and evolve." |
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| article reprinted from the Marin Independent Journal |
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