There are many aspects of this extraordinary Colorado poolscape on which one might focus. From overall design to specific detail, it is a masterpiece of residential construction, but of particular interest one is the indoor/outdoor transitional space and the remote control sliding enclosure that allow complete control of the pool’s ambient feel.
In other words, it’s your choice: You can feel like you’re indoors, a little bit outdoors or absolutely and completely out under the big blue sky, all at the touch of a button.
“I was impressed with the enclosure from Libart,” says pool builder Dennis Heagle, of Colorado Pools Unlimited, Englewood, Colo. “In fact when I first heard about it as part of the project, I had some doubt about what it would ultimately look like, but this thing is just awesome. The sliding doors work very smoothly, and it just makes the environment of that pool when you open it up at night under the stars.”
There are many enjoyable challenges to a project this size, but none beyond the experience of Colorado Pools Unlimited. For instance, where do you put the equipment? It’s not the kind of project where you can just pour a pad behind the bushes. There was no place to go but under.
“It’s a flooded suction setup where the equipment is underneath, below the level of the water in the swimming pool,” Heagle says. “But we do a lot of these kinds of pools, and there’s a lot of experience that goes into that in terms of having proper emergency shut-off valves and things like that; we don’t take any shortcuts when it comes to the plumbing.”
The exposed wall of the pool drew Heagle’s attention as well. “I’m really particular about proper waterproofing of these raised walls, not just on the outside where the stone is being placed, but moreso on the inside.
“There are companies that just plaster that inside and assume it’s waterproofed, but it’s really not on these raised walls. We go in and do another application to make sure that on these raised areas that there’s no way moisture can go through that wall into the other side and then out onto the exterior stone. You need to pay special attention to that when you have an exposed pool wall.”
“It came together better than anyone could have expected. In the wintertime, here, we have days in December where the temperature can be 60 degrees and you can open that enclosure and bring the warmth in, and it’s really great, even for a couple of hours.”
