See Your Swimming Pool Design
Looks Before you build

Classic Rectangular Family Pool

The 7m x 3.5m rectangle is the most built pool in the suburbs for good reason: it swims, it hosts games, it takes a cover easily and it never looks dated. Straight lines also make the cheapest fencing runs and the simplest paving cuts.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Set it parallel to the rear boundary with the widest paving on the sunny long side, in full sun between 11am and 3pm, and keep it in clear view of the kitchen for supervision.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Sawn or sandblasted bluestone coping with 400mm x 800mm riven pavers. Rough textured pavers are the single most important safety choice around a pool, because polished stone becomes lethal wet.

Maintenance & durability

Straight walls suit a robotic cleaner on a two hour cycle. Brush the waterline weekly, test chlorine and pH twice a week in summer, and backwash the sand filter monthly.

Tropical Lagoon with Rock Waterfall

A freeform lagoon with a boulder waterfall and a grotto turns the backyard into a holiday. The curves read organic and lush, and the falling water masks traffic noise, which matters more in built up suburbs than people expect.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Wrap it in layered tropical planting for privacy, but keep fine leaved trees well back. Put the lounge setting on the waterfall side under a thatched cabana or pergola so there is a shaded seat with the best outlook.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Riven sandstone or split granite boulder coping, with rough exposed aggregate paths. Pebble interior finishes suit lagoons and hide leaf staining far better than a pale render.

Maintenance & durability

Highest leaf load of any pool style, so run a skimmer basket check every second day and choose evergreen planting that drops large leaves rather than fine litter. Service the waterfall pump annually.

Infinity Edge Clifftop Pool

The vanishing edge exists to borrow a view — ocean, valley or city. Water spills over a knife edge wall into a balance tank below, so from the house the surface merges with the horizon and the pool disappears.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Only worth building where the land falls away. Site the wet edge on the view side and keep every lounge, umbrella and outdoor setting behind the water, so nothing blocks the illusion from inside the house.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Dark glass mosaic interior for mirror reflections, honed granite coping and a wide honed non slip deck. Dark tiles hold heat and hide the balance tank line.

Maintenance & durability

Structurally the most demanding pool: engineered walls, a balance tank and a second pump that must run for the edge to work. Budget for annual engineering inspection and higher power use.

Walled Courtyard Plunge Pool

A 4m x 2.5m plunge is for cooling off, sitting on a bench seat with a drink and using water as architecture. It is the right answer for a townhouse, an inner city terrace or a narrow side courtyard where a full pool would swallow the yard.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Tuck it against a rendered wall to bounce light into the water, and leave a 1.2m paved strip for two sun lounges. Small courtyards trap heat, so plan a shade sail or louvre panel over the seating end.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Full glass mosaic interior, 300mm honed limestone coping and matt textured porcelain paving that stays cool underfoot in a reflected heat courtyard.

Maintenance & durability

Small water volume means chemistry swings fast — test three times a week in heat. Cheapest pool to heat, and a well fitted cover cuts both evaporation and cleaning dramatically.

Kidney Shaped Pool on Lawn

The kidney is the friendly classic: a curved shallow end for children and a deeper end that once carried a diving board. It sits gently in a lawn setting where a hard rectangle would look imposed.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Centre it in open lawn with a mown path to the house, and hold the widest paving at the deep end where lounges and the umbrella go. Great for large flat blocks with mature boundary trees kept well clear.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Bullnose concrete coping with textured broom finished concrete or rough cast pavers, blended straight into lawn on the far side to soften the shape.

Maintenance & durability

Curves leave dead spots for circulation, so aim return jets to push debris toward the skimmer and give the shallow curve an extra brush each week.

Freeform Pool for a Modern Home

A soft freeform shape with a broad sun ledge suits a modern rendered house that would otherwise feel severe. It gives young families a shallow standing shelf and adults a proper swimming length in the same shell.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Push it close to the alfresco so the pool and the outdoor lounge read as one room, and use frameless glass fencing so the water is visible from the kitchen bench.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Pale quartz interior for that turquoise colour, drop face concrete coping and large format textured porcelain paving with a wide grip finish.

Maintenance & durability

Sun ledges warm fast and grow algae first, so brush the shelf every visit. Salt chlorination keeps a family pool comfortable and reduces handling of chemicals.

Minimalist Reflection Pool

A still, dark, perfectly rectangular pool used as much for reflection as for swimming, framed by white walls and a pair of sculptural olive trees. It suits a design led home where the water is a courtyard centrepiece.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Set it hard against a blank rendered wall on axis with a main window or door, so the reflection is the view from inside. Keep furniture minimal and off to one side.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Charcoal or graphite tile interior, flush level travertine coping with a 6mm shadow gap and honed non slip travertine paving throughout.

Maintenance & durability

Dark surfaces show every scale mark, so keep calcium hardness in range and wipe the waterline weekly. A flush deck level design needs a reliable balance tank and level control.

Perimeter Overflow Pool with Spa

Water spills evenly over all four edges into a slot drain, giving a mirror flat surface at deck level and an adjoining spa that spills back into the main pool. The most luxurious way to build water into a terrace.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Requires a flat, generous terrace. Position the spa closest to the house for winter use, with the lounge zone under a louvred pergola on the western side.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Dark tiled interior, matching tiled slot grate and honed stone paving with a certified R11 slip rating right to the water's edge.

Maintenance & durability

Complex hydraulics with a balance tank, two pumps and precise levels. Best suited to owners who accept a service contract; the reward is a surface that never looks disturbed.

Natural Swimming Pond

A chemical free swimming pond uses a planted regeneration zone to filter the water biologically. It suits rural and bush blocks, gardeners, and anyone who dislikes chlorine on their skin.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Site it in open sun away from deciduous trees, with a timber deck and a jetty on the swim side and the planted filtration shelf on the far side, where it reads as a garden rather than plumbing.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Timber deck edge with a rough grip finish, natural stone stepping edges and a gravel beach. Never use smooth stone at a pond entry.

Maintenance & durability

No chlorine, but real gardening: thin the reed bed each year, clear the skimmer, and accept that water clarity is seasonal. Circulation pumps run continuously.

Raised Deck Above Ground Pool

A semi inground or above ground shell surrounded by a raised timber deck is the fastest, cheapest route to a swimmable pool, and the deck detail is what stops it reading as a temporary kit.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Ideal on a sloping block where excavation is expensive — set the shell into the high side and deck out to the low side. Keep the deck level with the house floor so it becomes an extension of the living area.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Grooved hardwood or capped composite decking for grip, with a wide bullnose step edge and no gaps that catch toes.

Maintenance & durability

Fibreglass and vinyl liner shells are easy to clean and gentle on feet; liners need replacing every 10 to 15 years. Oil or wash the deck yearly and inspect the framing under the deck for moisture.

Pool with Raised Spa Spillway

A raised spa sharing a wall with the pool, spilling over a tiled weir, doubles the use of the pool area. The spa gets used all winter while the pool sleeps, which is what makes it worth the extra cost.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Put the spa on the house side of the pool, close to a door and to towel storage, and under cover or beside a pergola so it is comfortable to walk to in cold weather.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Mosaic tiled spa and spillway with the pool in a matching blend, and rough textured pavers on the whole surround because spa users walk wet more often than swimmers.

Maintenance & durability

Spa water heats and evaporates fast, so a fitted spa cover is essential. Balance and sanitise it separately from the pool when it runs at temperature.

Family Pool with Pergola & Umbrella

The everyday pool that families actually live around: safe shallow end, floats, a shaded pergola, an umbrella and a table within a few steps of the water. Shade is what makes a family pool usable at midday.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Set the pergola or shade structure on the northern or western edge, with the table under full cover and lounges in the sun. Keep a clear 1.2m walkway between water and furniture so nobody squeezes past chairs.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Non slip textured concrete pavers in a light tone so they never burn small feet, and a rough cast step edge at the shallow entry.

Maintenance & durability

Highest bather load means the highest chlorine demand: test after any pool party, run the filter longer in summer and hose sunscreen residue from the waterline weekly.

Deck Mounted Spa & Swim Spa

A plug in spa or swim spa set into a timber deck delivers hydrotherapy, or a swim against a current, in a footprint smaller than a car space. The most practical water option for a small or cold climate yard.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Right outside the living room doors, under the roofline or a pergola so it is used in winter, screened from neighbours and with a dry landing area for towels.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Grooved decking with a slip resistant coating and a wide, well lit step. Wet feet on a smooth painted deck is the most common backyard fall.

Maintenance & durability

Filters need rinsing monthly and the water fully changed a few times a year. An insulated hard cover pays for itself quickly in power savings.

Rooftop Pool with Shade Sail

A shallow rooftop pool with a shade sail and city outlook makes an unusable roof into the best room of the house. Depth is kept low to control structural load while still giving a real plunge.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Requires structural engineering and waterproofing from day one. Place the sail over the lounge deck rather than the water, and use glass balustrades so the skyline stays the feature.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Lightweight porcelain pavers on adjustable pedestals with a high slip rating, and a tiled interior in a mid blue that reads well against a grey city backdrop.

Maintenance & durability

Exposed to wind borne dust, so skim daily and expect higher top up volumes from evaporation. UV stable shade fabric should be tensioned annually and taken down in storms.

Beach Entry Zero Edge Pool

A gradual sandy beach entry with a broad zero depth shelf lets toddlers, older swimmers and anyone with limited mobility walk in without steps. It is the most inclusive pool design there is.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Needs length, so use it on a wide block with the shallow shelf facing the house and the deeper water furthest away. Ring the shallows with a cabana and low loungers set in ankle deep water.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Pebblecrete or quartz beach shelf with a deliberately coarse texture, and rough travertine or shell stone paving running straight into the water without a step.

Maintenance & durability

Warm shallow water is algae's favourite place, so brush the shelf twice a week and keep the sanitiser at the top of range through summer.

Sloping Site Pool with Stone Terraces

On a falling block, dry stone retaining terraces let the pool sit level while the garden steps down around it, turning the slope from a problem into the most characterful part of the design.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Cut the pool into the high side and build the lounge terrace on the fill side. Keep the equipment bay in the under terrace void, screened and drained, close to power.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Split face sandstone retaining walls, sawn stone coping and rough riven stone treads on every level change, with handrails where steps exceed three risers.

Maintenance & durability

Watch drainage above the pool: subsoil drains behind retaining walls stop silt and run off entering the water after storms. Inspect wall weep holes each year.

Cantilevered Sky Plunge Pool

A plunge pool cantilevered off a raised terrace so the water edge meets nothing but sky. Pure spectacle for a view block, and surprisingly compact because it only needs to be big enough to sit in.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Site it on the view axis, projecting past the terrace edge, with lounges set back behind so the drop is uninterrupted. Engineering, not styling, drives the position.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Dark tiled interior, thin profile stone coping and heavily textured deck paving right up to the edge, because a fall here is unforgiving.

Maintenance & durability

Fully exposed to wind and sun: cover it when unused, monitor water loss carefully since a leak in a cantilever is serious, and have the structure inspected periodically.

Enclosed Pool Pavilion

A glazed pavilion around the pool converts a three month pool into a twelve month one. It suits cold or windy climates, serious lap swimmers and households who want to swim in the dark of winter.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Attach it to the house or place it as a garden building with sliding walls that open completely in summer, so it does not feel like an indoor pool for half the year.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Full body porcelain tiles with an R11 rating around the water, tiled coping and a floor drain grid. Condensation makes indoor pool surrounds slipperier than outdoor ones.

Maintenance & durability

Ventilation and dehumidification are as important as water care — trapped humidity destroys timber and steel. Run the extraction on a timer with the filtration.

Formal Circular Garden Pool

A perfect circle set in clipped hedging reads as a garden ornament that happens to be swimmable. It suits formal and Mediterranean estates where symmetry matters more than lap length.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Place it on the central axis of a formal garden, with radial paving and hedge bays framing it. Set the seating on axis under a stone pergola or arbour for shade with symmetry.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Cut stone circular coping, rough riven radial pavers and a pale interior so the circle glows against dark hedging.

Maintenance & durability

Circular circulation is efficient but hedge clippings are the enemy — cover the pool before trimming and skim afterwards. Keep hedge roots outside the shell zone.

Glass Wall Viewing Pool

An acrylic or structural glass panel in the pool wall lets light and swimmers be seen from the terrace or the room below. The most dramatic feature you can add to a pool and a genuine architectural statement.

Siting, shade & surrounds

Only works where there is a level below or a terrace alongside to view from. Aim the panel toward a lounge or living space, not toward a boundary fence.

Paving, coping & slip resistance

Dark tile everywhere except the panel reveal, with heavily textured non slip stone on the deck above and controlled drainage so run off never sheets down the glass.

Maintenance & durability

Acrylic scratches, so clean it with soft pads only, and keep water chemistry stable to avoid clouding the panel. Specialist installation and periodic seal inspection are non negotiable.

Maintenance you can actually keep up with

A pool is only as good as the half hour a week it gets. Choose a robotic cleaner and a variable speed pump, keep the skimmer basket clear, brush the waterline and the sun ledge weekly, and test chlorine and pH twice a week through summer. Size the filter one step larger than the minimum and give the equipment a screened, ventilated, drained bay close to the water with its own power circuit, so servicing is quick rather than a job you avoid.

Rough pavers so nobody slips

Wet feet plus polished stone is the most common injury in any backyard. Specify sandblasted, riven, split face or shot blasted surfaces with a certified R11 slip rating, and take the rough finish right to the coping edge and across every step and ramp. Light coloured stone also stays cool enough for bare feet in full sun, while dark polished porcelain around a pool burns and slides in equal measure.

Hard wearing materials that will not fade

Everything around a pool is attacked by UV, chlorine and salt at once. Fully vitrified glass mosaic and full body porcelain hold colour for decades; cheap printed tile and painted render do not. Use marine grade 316 stainless fixings, powder coated aluminium frames, solution dyed acrylic for shade fabrics and cushions, and granite or dense limestone coping. Sealing natural stone every few years is what stops chlorine splash bleaching the surround.

Shade and the outdoor setting around the water

A pool with nowhere shaded to sit gets used for twenty minutes a day. Plan the poolside setting with the water: a shade sail or pergola over the lounge and dining zone on the western side, sun lounges left in the open on a 2m deep strip, and a clear 1.2m walkway behind them. Keep towel storage, a fridge and the BBQ under cover, and the pool becomes the room the whole family lives in all summer.