Source: CUSTOM HOME OUTDOORS Magazine
Publication date: June 2, 2007

By Shelley D. Hutchins

Narrow lots in urban settings make it difficult—but not impossible—to provide a swimming pool. Some custom home pros solve the problem by locating the pool on the roof. That solution poses design and construction challenges while it offers view and privacy opportunities. Featured here are three pools that successfully rose to the top.

City Heights

For the transformation of a historic four-story building near the state capitol in Austin, Texas, to a private residence, the only place for a pool was on the roof. There, the infinity pool underlines the city skyline and makes a great drink ledge, laughs architect Tim Cuppett. But putting the pool into place was no joke. It required closing a major route through downtown in order to crane the fully tiled fiberglass shell into place. The delicate operation involved maneuvering a ½-inch tolerance between the pool and its waterproof tub and aligning three skylights in the pool floor with three watertight frames. But when the pool's colorful fiber optic lights shimmer through the skylights and into the house, Cuppett says the effect was worth the effort.

Architect: Tim Cuppett Architects, Austin, Texas; Pool design consultant/builder: Galaxy Aquatics, Houston; Structural engineer: Jerry Garcia, Austin; Photographer: Woody Welch.

Reflective Quality

Four large panels of glass make up almost the entire floor of this second-story pool. It runs along the west side of the house to capture long afternoon rays and spectacular sunsets over Vancouver's English Bay with views of the North Shore Mountains in the distance. Because of the weight of the water and considerable seismic activity in the area, the pool and most of the house are constructed with reinforced concrete. But the effect of the pool is pure light. “On a sunny day when the wind moves the water, the light that reflects into the home shimmers,” says architect Michael Cunningham.

Architect: Patkau Architects, Vancouver, B.C., Canada; Photographer: Paul Warchol.

Lap of Luxury

The owner wanted a lap pool for exercise, but with a 30-foot-wide lot an in-ground pool meant giving up any other outdoor space. Architect Vaughan Trammell instead located the lap pool adjacent to the third-floor master suite for convenient morning swims. A large deck with pool access curves around the bedroom while a smaller deck at the other end of the 40-foot-long pool leads directly to the shower. The pool is a single piece of fiberglass inserted into a waterproof trough. A linear drain in the trough leads to a hole that Trammell purposely placed just outside a living room window. “If someone ever sees water coming out of this hole,” he says, “we know we have a problem!”

Architect: Vaughan Trammell Architect, Los Angeles; Pool builder: San Juan Pools, Eloy, Ariz.; Structural engineer: Omnispan, Pasadena, Calif. Photographer: Kenneth Johansson.