Although, completely sold on the concept, they were initially unsure how such a feature would fit into their garden. The brief therefore from the outset was to present them with inspirational ideas which did not involve too much maintenance and which related well to their home and existing garden!
The views of the Deben valley in the far distance are stunning and needed to be considered and reflected within the design. It was also important to site the swimming pond in an area of the garden which was going to receive a good deal of sunshine and was to have a degree of shelter from the east coast sea breeze.
This was because the south facing garden sloped significantly away from the house and for a swimming pond to look natural it would need to be situated in a low lying area, otherwise it could very easily look contrived.
It was thought that for the swimming pond to function well, (or perhaps more appropriately in this case a ‘natural swimming pool’) it needed to also act as a subtle link between the house and the garden, thus connecting the two together. The garden is approached via a series of steps from the raised terrace and a boardwalk, which visually divides the swimming pond in two, has been centred on these steps.
A wall was constructed together with an area of paving to create shelter from the sea breeze and provide an area in which to sit and relax and take in the magnificent views across the Deben Valley. It is interesting to note that the introduction of this body of water into the garden has enhanced the visual impact of the stretches of water in the distance.
The regeneration area comprises the smaller of the two areas that is divided by the boardwalk but also runs along two sides of the swimming area. It should be noted that the aquatic plants were cut back just prior to these pictures being taken.
In summary, a 100m natural swimming pool with a swimming area of 50m has been created by addressing both the opportunities and constraints of the site to provide the chance to swim in chemical free water within a garden setting.
