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Frothy Fun
by Eric Herman September 2018
Designing and building beautiful aquatic spaces is often about reflecting the clients' personalities — at least it should be, according to Dennis Loy of Loy Custom Pool Designs in Austin, Texas. The project you see here offers a perfect example. The husband brews his own beer under the brand name Splash Craft Brewery, and his wife is an arts-and-crafts and gardening enthusiast. Loy's design integrates these passions into a one-of-a-kind outdoor living space that includes a backyard brewery...
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September 2018 New Spa and Pool Products
by AQUA Editors September 2018
This month, we take a look at new and exciting pool and spa products, including the FrogLog, made to help critters escape pools, Abatron's Tread Spread, a slip-resistant coating, colorful fountains and more.
Design in Place: Tropical Attitudes
by Eric Herman July 2018
Between the warmth, abundant sunshine and ample rain, tropical locales around the globe are among the most lush and leisurely found anywhere. Many of those regions, such as Central America and the Caribbean, boast a seemingly endless number of desirable vacation spots famous for oceanic lifestyles, verdant forests and luxurious homes and resorts.
For those who design and build aquatic outdoor environments, these settings offer both great opportunities and, often, significant...
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Morning Show Makeover In Midtown Manhattan
by AQUA Editors July 2018
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66 Million Gallons of Sparkling Water: How Do They Do It?
by Eric Herman July 2018
They are both big and beautiful. The vessels created by Crystal Lagoons have achieved widespread international recognition for not only their gargantuan size and strikingly clear water, but also for their ability to generate elevated real estate value for the properties that surround them.
Developed by Chilean scientist, innovator and entrepreneur Fernando Fischmann, the lagoons — which are not technically referred to as "swimming pools" — currently number 50 worldwide, largely in...
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Why Fiberglass is Growing
by AQUA Editors July 2018
In the last decade, fiberglass pools have seen their share of the market steadily increase as homeowners across the country have come to appreciate the unique benefits of having a shell made of this smooth, low-maintenance material. AQUA decided to dig a little deeper into the phenomenon with two fiberglass industry veterans from Latham Pools: Tom Straub, senior vice president of sales and marketing, and Mike Fox, product director for fiberglass pools.
What’s driving the increasing
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Developing New Methods of Pool Construction
by Eric Herman June 2018
Over the past few months, I've come upon an interesting trend, one that has found its way into the pages of AQUA in three recent articles I've written.
In a nutshell, I've noticed there are some potentially exciting and relatively new ways to build swimming pools that stand as dramatic departures from the familiar triumvirate of shotcrete/gunite, vinyl liner and fiberglass.
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Pool Zones
by Scott Webb June 2018
If we accept that the backyard is really just the final domestic frontier — a land beyond the back wall that people want to tame and colonize — and if we believe that people are looking to create the same types of social spaces they enjoy elsewhere, then that's how we should approach its design.
That is the consensus of builders and backyard professionals as they explore the growing outdoor living phenomenon. It requires the widest possible lens to encompass the expanding scope of...
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Dog Pools: They’re a Thing Now
by AQUA Editors June 2018
This is not a story about dogs in pools — we’ve covered that on the Waterfront before. This is a story about dog pools moving mainstream. About entrepreneurs opening up commercial pools for dogs just like they do for humans, and getting the dogs (or perhaps their owners) to pay for the privilege of using the pool the same as you’d expect at LA Fitness or Gold’s Gym.
A google search using the keywords “dog pool” in major metro areas brings up a slew of businesses with names like “Wet...
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22,000 Years of Comfort
by Eric Herman June 2018
Saturnia, Italy, a small city in Tuscany, is believed to be the oldest settlement on the Italian Peninsula with ruins and artifacts in the town dating all the way back to the 20th century B.C. Saturnia is also home to an amazing set of thermal baths and waterfalls that are believed to have been in use by local residents and travelers since ancient times.
Legend has it that the town was founded in honor of the god Saturn, who was banished to earth for his misdeeds. He took refuge on...