George Moreno IIIâ|âCEO/Principalâ|âGeorge Moreno & Partnersâ|âPanama Pacifico, Panama
Joan Rocaâ|âPresidentâ|âImerzion Corp.â|âPanama Pacifico, Panama
High-Level Achievement
For his own second-story apartment in Panama, architect George Moreno wanted an L-shaped pool to suit the modern luxury complex he designed.
Photo: Tiron Garcia
He and pool designer Joan Roca decided to give the pool a vanishing edge. At first, the developer wouldnât consent to a spillway on an upper floor, fearing the water would migrate onto another residence. Roca, a Genesis member, had to sign a guarantee.
WHAT THE JUDGES THOUGHT
This pool is purely and simply an element within the âcubistâ architectural scheme of the residence. It provides one the base elements for the home: wood, metal, concrete and, finally, water. It is perfect in form and color. The pool doesnât strive to compete, but rather to complete.
âJAMIE SCOTT, head of design and construction services, Group Works, Wilton, Conn.
When the pool designer came on board, the apartment complex had already been built with a hole for the pool. Roca and Moreno wanted a larger waterscape, but expanding the hole wasnât possible. Instead, Roca added a substantial shallow sunshelf to the original poolâs footprint, which wouldnât require the extraordinary measures of expanding the deeper hole. Floating steps allow easy motion through the relatively tight space.
The team placed the focal points where the poolâs legs intersect. A wall with sheet waterfall stands outside the pool. In the water, a submersible fire pit seems to float, creating that dynamic relationship between fire and water.
To recreate the color of the ocean, the pool interior is finished in a Greek marble called silver gray, custom cut into a 4-by-4-inch format.
The team chose wood for the deck and floating steps to add warmth to the environment. They selected a very dense local species called almendro, known for its strength.
Roca kept a tight gap between the deck and the poolâs waterline to emulate the look of a slot overflow edge without the technical complications of engineering one on a rooftop.
SUPPLIERS
Pumps, filter, heater, controller, sanitation, waterfeature, lights, autofill: Pentair
Interior finish/tile: Stonetech Gonianakis
Fire feature: Fire by Design
Drain covers/fittings: Waterway Plastics
Waterproofing: Basecrete
