A swimming pool is the ultimate addition to al fresco living and these properties from around the world show they can also be a feat of architectural brilliance. From swimming spots suspended over the sea to underground aquatic playgrounds, dip your toe in some of the most spectacular swimming pools from the ELLE Decoration archives.
A mid-century Californian pool
No California home is complete without a pool, and this 1950s property in Outpost Estates in the Hollywood Hills is no exception. A collaborative effort by design duo Ome Dezin, Claire O’Connor of O’Connor Estates and content creator Marco Zamora, the home was sensitively restored. Given its Mediterranean style and California’s balmy weather, an outdoor area with pool was a must.
The year-round holiday home in Deia
When renovating this holiday home in Deia, designer Vicky Charles and her team remodelled the pool area to make the most of the spectacular location, taking care to design extra-comfy, colourful loungers that swivel. ‘If you can’t get a sunbed right, you’ve got a problem!’ she says. Her client swims a lot for his health, so there’s an outdoor showeR in an area where the trees provide natural shade.
The tropical getaway hidden in the jungle
Located in the jungle that surrounds the coastal town of Tulum, one of the most distinctive spaces of this property is the pool. Inspired by Mucuyché, a hacienda near Tulum, it is envisioned as ‘a cenote carved and shaped by nature at the bottom of a canyon, with Philodendron radiatum climbing along the walls’. Extending into the jungle, this architectural feature becomes part of the natural landscape, clad in the chukum that is so much a decorative thread through this home.
The unexpected pool in London
When it comes to London property, an outdoor pool an unlikely addition. When homeowners Paul and Jude bought this 1950s home in south London, a pool languished at the end of garden. After years of neglect it needed a reinvention and so the couple turned to architect William Smalley to create a glamorous poolhouse and restore the pool. He envisaged a structure that would blend seamlessly with the greenery, and so designed curved walls formed from rubble-like stones to echo a low wall on the terrace and the monumental chimney in the house itself.
The architectural pool in Napa
In the heart of California wine country is a modern house crafted from poured concrete, timber and glass, and set amid acres of olive groves on a family farm producing biodynamic, organic oil. It is the result of a collaboration between Strening Architects, Lucas & Lucas Landscape Architecture and interior designer Nicole Hollis. It features a garden and lap pool spanned by a monumental concrete wall, with a circular cut-out framing the view of the valley, with sun-loungers from Danao Living.
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The sustainable Sydney home inspired by Mondrian
The integration of water, planting and operable canopies was integral to this pool terrace and courtyard. Designed by Jase Sullivan, the Sydney home is Australia’s first carbon-neutral property. The structure above the pool is made from recycled hardwood while other sustainable elements include stools made from melted-down fridges, 3D-printed beds crafted from recycled-plastic bottles and a coffee table designed from pink-dyed limestone.
The patterned pool in the south of France
This home near the Massif de l’Estérel mountain range, just a 45-minute drive north of St-Tropez, is full of graphic tiling. Designer India Mahdavi used tiles from her collaboration with Bisazza throughout the home – a psychedelic-esque pattern on the bottom of the pool reflects the home’s interior whilst the sharp lines contrast with the surrounding unhewn gardens.
The striped poolside changing room in Sicily
‘It’s an ironic feature but I think it works really well in the context, because it creates a focal point,’ says architect Gordon Guillaumier of this striking cube wrapped in majolica tiles from Caltagirone. It overlooks the pool in Casa Infita, a villa he designed in Sicily, and functions as a changing room for guests whilst acting as a visual punctuation mark. Beside it is a shaded dining area with a custom-made table surrounded by Rodolfo Dordoni’s ‘Harp’ chairs for Roda.
The boulder-strewn pool terrace in Cape Town
Designer Marlon Legatt took full advantage of this home’s superb location at the base of Lion’s Head Mountain, overlooking Cape Town and the sea, by literally bringing the outdoors in. The pool is surrounded by carefully placed Cape-granite boulders, which are reminders of the home’s mountainside location. Evenings are illuminated by custom versions of Bloc Outdoor’s ‘Cape’ lantern design, while sunbathing is done on the ‘Platform Sun Lounger’ by Bloc Outdoor.
The Ibizan villa made for entertaining
The heady scent of lavender wafts across this infinity pool in a modernist Ibizan villa designed by collaborators Ali Pittam of Cancan Design and Roberta Jurado of Box 3 Ibiza. Shaded loungers sit at one end of the pool while at the other is a custom made wicker bar crafted by an artisan in Girona, Spain.
The elevated pool with oceanfront views
This pool, which enjoys views of Sandy Bay, Cape Town’s only nudist beach, is part of a monolithic and totally daring concrete structure devised by architect Christo Botha. Inspired by trailblazing architects Zaha Hadid and Santiago Calatrava his starting point was to ‘mould the house into the rocky coastline so as to create a strong, stable construction, much like an amphitheatre, that could open up to the ocean, with sliding glass doors that disappear into the walls on warm, sunny days,’ he says.
An Ibizan pool made for rest and relaxation
The gleaming turquoise pool runs the entire length of this villa in Ibiza, with views across the island’s eastern coastline. Designer Patricia Urquiola ensured there are plenty of shaded areas for cooling down, while her own sunbed design for Kettal is perfectly positioned for languid afternoons spent poolside.
The pool perched atop Beverly Hills
LA might be full of pools but not many have a view as incredible as this. Perched above Beverly Hills, the home and its wraparound terrace are positioned to take in as much of the incredible vistas as possible. ‘People covet the homes overlooking the city, but from the other side you get these expansive hillside views with this remarkable light. It’s ten times better,’ remarks architect David Montalba.
The swimming spot that overlooks a canopy of trees
This expansive swimming pool is part of a visionary plantation-style retreat on the outskirts of Mumbai. The brainchild of homeowner Ty Bhojwani, Architecture Brio and Timothy Oulton Studio, the property was inspired by the idea of an old ruin and named ‘The Ray’ for the way the sunlight moves throughout the property.
The underground pool made for parties
This subterranean swim spot beneath a party-pad in Maida Vale offers escapism and hedonism in equal measure. Designer Trilbey Gordon clad the walls in wood that’s been charred in the style of Japanese shou sugi ban, while the artistic installation by Based Upon above the water can come alive with movement and light.
