Pageturner - Cool Pools And Hot Tubs

The Age

Wednesday June 14, 2006

MIRANDA TAY

BOOK REVIEW: Cool Pools and Hot Tubs, By Vinny Lee, Photographs by Ray Main, Published by Cameron House, hardcover, RRP $49.95

THERE'S a private pool in London that has been built half in, half out of the house. Designed by architects Munkenbeck+Marshall, the long, narrow pool has a clever system of two automatically controlled pool covers, which can be activated to divide the inner section of the pool from the outer. It's a useful device in winter to maintain the heated temperature of the pool, while keeping the outer water enclosed and protected from falling leaves.

Private pool and hot-tub design has become more sophisticated, driven by changing uses and new technologies. Once a summer conceit, the swimming pool now has year-round appeal. The traditional way of including it in a property - rectangular, inground, outside - has given way to more creative interpretations, and now pools of varying shapes and sizes are found indoors, above ground, in gardens, on rooftops, stepped terraces and even in basements.

Award-winning British writer and interior stylist Vinny Lee looks at how shifting mores and lifestyles have shaped the way pools are built. Today's designs are set to landscapes and buildings. Formed without borders as infinity pools, they blend with ocean and sky. In subterranean pools, the swimmer has become the showcase. Lee's case studies are stunning and appropriate, and her consideration of every aspect of building a pool - lighting, furniture and shades- thought-provoking. --MIRANDA TAY