Poolside Comfort in Toorak

Award winning pool! SPASA Awards 2016- Best renovation Category.
This project was designed and project managed by Clapham Landscape Architecture. The pool build was by Falcon pools. Other than a few furniture tweaks here and there, this area is finally complete to award winning standards! Below are progress shots from start to finish so you can see its transformation!

Outdated, overgrown and out of control. The space was a mess when we first visited. It looked as though suburbia met jungle, but jungle had its own plans! Immediately we recognised that there were obvious issues with function and usability. The existing broken pool and pool fence being the main offenders.

After consulting with the client, it was decided that the entire space needed a face lift. As you can see, once the jungle and ill-considered pool fence had been removed, the space became much less claustrophobic. One of our client’s requests of was that they wanted to have a smaller plunge pool and spa. Due to the nature of the site and the very restricted access we couldn’t use any major machinery so all was completed by hand.

To overcome major excavations the new Plunge pool and spa was formed up inside the existing pool while the rest of the old pool was filled in with scoria and covered over with a concrete slab on piers ready for paving. The existing spa was fitted with drainage, filled with soil and turned into a planter.

As you can see the space has now opened right up with much less space dedicated to the pool and spa and much more space dedicated to outdoor living and dining. The garden is much tidier with what will be a thick, tall hedge in the background and features three Maple trees spread amongst the garden beds. The plants are obviously still only in early days so there is much more development ahead.

The pavilion is what really makes the area work! Now that the custom made cushions have been placed on the bench seat, we have a really cosy outdoor lounging area built to be comfortable in both summer and winter with a ceiling fan and heaters built in. Note the ottoman also designed in-house by CLA allows the cushion to be stored under converting into a beautiful coffee table.

Thank you to Avoca landscapes and Falcon pools for their contributions to this project.