This year saw the second annual Million Dollar Pool Design Challenge, and the winning project embodies the spirit of the competition.
Its organizers — designers Mike Farley and Reid Schindler, along with Informa — present the competition as a vehicle for designers to work beyond the budgetary and logistical limits of their everyday work. Each year, they create a fictional customer profile along with a property and design criteria. With a $1 million budget, it is meant to remove logistical obstacles and heighten the imagination of designers.
Lakeside creation
Alex Tyler
This year, contestants were charged with creating a fictional poolscape appropriate for a real property in Lake Tahoe, Calif.
The design needed to meet several criteria, including that it blend with the hybrid rustic/modern industrial home, frame the views, enable lap swimming; accommodate up to 25 people for parties, and include: a spa that seats 8 to 10; fire-and-water elements; a waterslide; spaces to showcase outdoor sculptures and other art; an outdoor kitchen; bunkhouse; and access to the lake below.
This year, among many impressive submissions, the judges awarded the $5,000 prize to this stunning multi-pool waterscape by Alex Tyler, owner of Alchemy Exteriors in Tulsa, Okla., who had taken second place at last year’s inaugural contest.
The sprawling project starts near the house with a contemporary/industrial look — with rectangular reflecting pools and a generous spa bordered with clear acrylic panels and featuring a movable floor on top. Moving away from the abode, the project progresses to more organic lines and features, including a lazy river, to blend with the vistas. Fire features prominently in the project, as do areas for showcasing the clients’ outdoor art.
Access to the lake is provided by a footpath or a zip line.
Setting context
In designing the backyard, Tyler took a holistic approach.
“I’m a landscape architect, so I looked at the project as a whole, with the pool as a focal point,” he says. “I think the most important aspect is for people looking at this project to see that it’s a full package deal and not just the water.”
Informa
After doing horticulture work at Disneyworld and falling in love with the design of zoos and parks, Tyler earned his masters degree in landscape architecture from University of Oklahoma. With experience designing zoos and aquariums around the world, he now specializes in high-end residential landscape architecture.
Like Farley and Schindler, Tyler participated in contests like this while a student, and he sees their value. “Competitions allow you to see how your visions and design solutions pan out in a potential real-world scenario, and it makes you push the boundaries for people who can’t always work with clients who want to spend $1 million.”
