Small Pools
Small pools by Exterior Worlds are ideal for crowded neighborhoods with very small lots and limited space for landscaping. While many of these lots may have very large houses standing on them, they have little room in the backyard. Other lots may have patio homes or townhomes that feature a predominantly backyard landscape design characterized mostly by custom hardscapes.
Garden designs must be developed around these structures and be installed in ways that are proportional to the limited space at hand. Swimming pools must also be smaller, but they must still provide the amenities and comforts of their larger equivalents.
While this may sound like an insurmountable challenge, it really is not. The landscape designer who is experienced in custom swimming pool design knows how to bring both functionality and aesthetic down to the appropriate scale. Small pools are really no different than large swimming pools. They can be built to look like luxury spas, geometrically shapes such as rectangles or circles, or even giant fountains. The benefits that they create for homeowners, however, are anything but small.
One of these benefits pertains to health and wellness. Small pools can be heated just like spas for comfort and for therapy. Many doctors advise their arthritis patients to invest in these pools because they help soothe aching joints. Physical therapists will also recommend them to patients who are recovering from knee and back injuries. Although a small swimming pool may have only limited surface area in which to swim, it can nonetheless be built with all the necessary amenities and luxuries necessary to accommodate these needs.
The way to accomplish this is to build a small pool with swim jets that create strong underwater currents coming from one side of the structure. The swimmer faces into these current and swims half-laps to the other side. The heated water, combined with pressure that user-friendly controls will allow the swimmer to adjust, provides ideal therapy and exercise for sore joints. Indeed, many people have reported that they get better exercise from swimming in small pools than they do in larger ones because the pressure of the water is more intense and focused.
Small pools are more than functional exercise tools, however. They are also very valuable and very decorative additions to the backyard landscape of any cottage or townhome. They appear tranquil and idyllic when surrounded by greenery intermingled with custom patio work. Adding a water feature to the mix of green and stone adds another dimension to the landscape design. We have the organic in the garden design, the inorganic in the hardscape, and the fluid, foundational element of water that ties the two together. This adds a sense of movement, dynamism, and even mystery to the landscape.
An excellent way to enhance the many unique qualities of water is to add a fountain features to a small pool. Custom fountains of all styles can be built in these pools, provided the dimensions are proportional to the setting and to the surrounding architecture. One of the most popular designs is the waterfall fountain. Waterfalls can be built in any number of forms that range from the traditionally natural to the deliberately contemporary and modernesque. They can also make both the swimming pool and the surrounding yard appear much larger because they add a vertical dimension to swimming pool design.
They can also be constructed either at either the end of a pool or along its sides. Building a waterfall along one side can actually add a safety factor to a small pool. Because diving boards can be hazardous and appear cliché, a diving rock should be installed instead. When placed in the midst of pouring water, it provides the swimmer with much safer access to the water, and it allows him or her to directly experience the feeling of jumping into a real waterfall—without the hazards or mess.