Set in the Phoenix area, this pool adds the elements of fire and water to the earthy red mountains beyond.
For this reason, the pool recently was featured in Pebble Technology’s annual book, “The World’s Greatest Pools.”
To suit the nearly U-shaped space, designer Matt Coyle fashioned this combination vanishing-edge/slot overflow pool with a symmetrical footprint.
The black materials — PebbleTec interior, with large-format porcelain tile at the waterline and raised vanishing-edge walls — serve several purposes. They maximize reflection of the fire feature and other surrounding elements, while contrasting with the light colors on the home and matching the glossiness of the abode’s large windows. A gray marble serves as a coping, outlining the vanishing-edge catch basin at the back of the pool.
The sleek lines and materials provide a canvas for the fire feature that dissects the pool’s length.
No doubt the fire and water feature turns heads, not only from the combination of elements, but with the illusion that the flame floats on the water. Water spills into a 1/4-inch slot around the fire pan. The slot is concealed by black fire glass to complete the illusion.
Coyle devised a shotcrete locker to hold the fire equipment underneath the pan and protect it from water that could migrate as a result of surges.
“The [space] where the water falls into is about 4” wide,” says Coyle, president/owner of Phoenix-based Venetian Outdoors. “Then we have another roughly 4-inch wall. Then the dry locker itself, which sits under the fire pan, is probably 4-feet-by-4 feet-by-almost-6 feet deep.”
A false floor inside the locker elevates the ignition components, which are then covered, to protect them from water if there’s a surge of any type, or if there’s any pooling on the actual floor. Any such water goes out to through drain lines.
At one end of the pool sits a tanning ledge. The remaining length is devoted to the pool.
On either end of the pool, Coyle placed short columns, also finished in the black porcelain tile. These serve dual purposes. First, they mark the transition between the slot overflow at the front of the pool and the raised vanishing edge at the back. Secondly, they bookend the steps on either side that lead to the grade below.
The homeowner chose to place a portable hot tub near the pool, in near the RV garage.
“He wanted to be able to sit in his hot tub, see inside the garage and watch TV,” Coyle says.
