Pool House

Pool House
DESCRIPTION +

 

An interest in swimming and water therapy led our client to add an indoor pool to their original 1961 home. 

The addition, accessed through a doorway off the master bathroom, contains an indoor swimming pool, soaking tub, changing room, and kitchenette. Access from the exterior is intentionally indirect, so as to create a sense of privacy and enhance the experience.

Our challenge was to design a space that was quiet, strong, and confident enough to exist in equilibrium with a work by Sol LeWitt: his seventy-foot-long, hand-rubbed ink-on-gesso painting, Triple Pyramids, covers one wall. A large window with sliding glass panels faces the art. Water and land are connected with views from the pool.

The soaking tub is raised two steps above the larger pool, and spills water into it. The sound of falling water accentuates an environment of stillness and serenity. Colored stucco, stainless steel, and Lake Placid Granite complement the warm texture of LeWitt’s mural. Green granite visually anchors the pool in the ground and in the landscape, while the color of the stone subtly relates to the grass and mature pine trees.

The Pool House responds to the program, painting, and landscape. Art, architecture, and nature are integrally connected.

Location:
Kings Point, NY
Year:
1988
Awards:
1989 AIANY Distinguished Architecture Honor Award
1989 AIA National Honor Award