“Because our company only does design, we work with a lot of builders on projects that include details they’ve never done before,” says Brian Van Bower, president of Florida-based design firm Aquatic Consultants, Inc., and president and co-founder of the Genesis 3 Design Group. “Often the driver is the consumer who’s seen it elsewhere, brings it to their local builder and says, ‘We want this.’ ” Bob Haning, executive vice president for Pebble Technology International, also sees consumers driving new backyard and pool finish and design trends. “It seems like the economy has stabilized and become more flush, so there’s more money to be spent out there,” Haning says. “The homeowner is looking for what’s new. What can you do that’s different than when I bought a pool five or 10 years ago?”
Finishes
One way Pebble Tec is answering that question is with its new PTx colors program, offered in conjunction with Artisticolors. Once a builder goes through the training with Artisticolors, they are certified to sell and install PTx.
“We juiced the base material up in the Pebble Fina, and fortified it with the ability to hold color better and make the colors brighter,” Haning says. Using PTx customers can pick virtually any color for their pool finish. “[Customers] like the look because it’s different, and the consumer is searching for different items as far as the finish.”
Another pool finish popular because of its variety in color and sheen is glass tile.
“About 30 percent of our projects are all tile and most of those are glass tile,” Van Bower says. “Within the glass tile, there’s a wide variety of materials. We’re using translucent glass tiles that add to the depth of the pool, and we’re using some textured tiles. On one side, they have a discernible texture that is iridescent and has an oil slick–like look on it. The other side is a smooth finish but lumpy. It looks polished but still has movement to it. That’s a very beautiful look.”
Van Bower says careful installation is key to getting a good result, especially with translucent glass tile. “Everything that’s underneath the tile shows compared to an opaque tile,” he says.
Van Bower has installed some pools using either tiles or custom-cut slabs of granite or marble as well. “[The] slabs of granite had to be set with big suction placement devices,” Van Bower says. “And of course the pool shell had to be completely flat and waterproofed in preparation for those pieces.”
Chris Cipriano, president of Cipriano Landscape Design and Custom Swimming Pools in Mahwah, N.J. — the company that built the violin-shaped pool, which has popped up all over the Internet recently — says aggregate and polished plaster finishes still remain the most sought after pool finish with his customers. “There are so many different products on the market to fit what’s best for the client,” Cipriano says.
Matthew Pace Photography; designed by Aquatic Consultants, Inc., and built by Regency Pool + Spa of Florida, Inc. An all-glass tile using Lightstreams tile featuring a Lautner Knife Edge perimeter overflow and vanishing-edge combination. 
A PebbleTec pool built using the PTx color system.
Designs
As customers have more access to pictures of beautiful pool designs on Pinterest, Houzz and other websites, they seek builders who can create the same look in their backyard.
“Another trend — what we at Genesis 3 call water in transit or the beauty of the edge — is all types of overflow details, vanishing edges, deck-level perimeter overflows, elevated perimeter overflows and combinations of those,” Van Bower says. “Those are highly popular and still in demand.”
Also growing in popularity is the use of clear acrylic panels in pool design. Although the material used is actually fully annealed cellcast and not acrylic, the clear panels allow people to see in or out of the swimming pool. Van Bower’s company has done several of these installations, including one where the pool can be seen through the panels in the ceiling.
While these applications are not what the average pool customer can afford, they provide a wow factor that draws people in and gets them to begin to imagine the kind of pool they would like to see in their own space. And as more and more people ask for these types of designs, the better the industry gets at fulfilling those requests — and the less it costs to install them.
Rene Gonzalez Architects, Aquatic Consultants, Inc. pool design and photography Brian Van Bower. The projects has a one-inch slot between the grass and pool using a product available from Bobé Water and Fire. 
Greg Wilson Photography, DWY Landscape Architects and Aquatic Consultants, Inc. design. An all-tile project with clear panels in the pool floor/ceiling. 
Matthew Pace Photography; designed by Aquatic Consultants, Inc., and built by Regency Pool + Spa of Florida, Inc. An all-glass tile using Lightstreams tile featuring a Lautner Knife Edge perimeter overflow and vanishing-edge combination.
Van Bower also stresses the importance of educating yourself on how to do these things properly.
“Most people in the pool industry could benefit from a better knowledge of hydraulics and so forth in order to do some of these overflow details,” Van Bower says. “In general, the
reason Genesis exists is that there isn’t really high-level education available for the pool industry. We’re offering education on the hydraulics and system design for overflow details of all kinds, and it has been one of our more popular programs.”
Of course, the trend isn’t always complicated; Cipriano says that sun shelves are in the highest demand at his company.
“They are probably the most popular option put into a pool because it’s great when you have young children,” Cipriano says. “The mother can be in the water with the child. And the adults can sit on a chaise lounge reading a book with their feet in the water, and enjoy watching the rest of the family enjoy the other aspects of the pool.”
Options
In the home and backyard, people are looking for ways to customize the design and products to fit their total lifestyle. This carries over to the pool as well.
“Most of our designs are driven by being kid-friendly and then finding the balance between the interaction of the kids and the adults,” Cipriano says.
Whether it’s finding the right setup for children or making sure the pool is properly lit for night enjoyment, the key is finding options that will increase the function and aesthetics of the pool. For the families who come to Cipriano, slides are often the right choice.
“What’s critical with slides is how they integrate into the pool,” Cipriano says. “Integrate them in a way that’s aesthetically pleasing and functional.”
While it’s not something that he installs often, another option some of his customers enjoy is a current system.
“I think we have another one or two scheduled this year to go into new pools that we’re building,” Cipriano says. His favorite system to install is from Riverflow. “The bonus feature is that you can kayak against it. It’s extremely functional and, once again, fun.”
LED and fiber-optic lighting can increase functionality of the pool as well as the aesthetics.
“I think LED lighting is taking over, particularly now that you’re able to adjust the temperature of the light, cool or warm light you can actually order what you need and make it coincide with other lighting,” Van Bower says.
For the aforementioned violin pool, Cipriano’s team came up with a way to weave individual strands of fiber-optic lights in between the seams of the tile. “The integration of both glass and fiber really hadn’t been done before,” he says. “We ended up laying 5,700 fiber optic strands in the pool.”
Don’t Forget
“So many of our high-end customers don’t even swim,” says Mike Giovanone, owner of Concord Pools in Latham, N.Y. “A Honda will get you to work; why do you have a big Mercedes? Because it gives them personal gratification. With most high-end pool customers, I leave the first visit having downsized the pool dramatically — because what is around the pool is just as important as what’s in the pool. We don’t want this yard to be used only on 90-degree sunny days; we want it to be used to sit around the fire pit, around the BBQ, around the outside kitchen or the swimming pool. We want it to be a complete environment for family fun, entertaining and peace of mind.”
Pebble Tec’s Haning says as people are getting more financially secure, they’re spending money to enhance their backyard and outdoor environment. Pebble Tec is capitalizing on this with the release of their line of hand-hammered copper water and fire features.
“I think a big thing is being able to see the brand extend beyond the pool and more of that outdoor living lifestyle that we’re trying to tackle with the Fire & Water brand,” Russ Perry, marketing consultant to Pebble Tec from NSB Keane says. “That’s what the customers are starting to resonate with. We’re trying to get ahead of that trend.”
Cipriano’s company started as a landscaping company, then moved into masonry and pools. They even have a 10-acre farm and nursery. “We provide the total package,” Cipriano says. “We’ve found a lot of success in that business model. More and more people appreciate only having to deal with one vendor.”
Cipriano encourages other pool companies to make sure they don’t bite off more than they can chew as they move into new areas of backyard construction.
“It takes a lot of time, and there’s definitely a learning curve,” Cipriano says. “It’s really a matter of doing your due diligence because if you make a mistake, it’s going to be a costly mistake. You have to be comfortable, with each level you move up, that you can still provide a quality product to the consumer and not sacrifice that just to get the job. You’re going to have an unhappy customer, and you could really put yourself out of business.”
