The colorful, curved outdoor pool contrasts with the stark, white lines of the house. The tile colors of blue and
brick are repeated in the deck and the water.
reation. In other words, swimming
beats out jogging (for exercise) as well
as baseball and football (for recrea-
tion).
Although there are no particular
regional differences as far as pool
designs go, the California and Florida
pool industries do tend to introduce
features earlier than other states,
Nelson says. Hot from California
comes the newest wrinkle in pools
the swim spa, an alternative for peo-
ple who want to swim for exercise but
don't have space for a lap pool.
Thanks to new techology, high
speed jets are built into one end of a
not particularly long pool — from 12 to
20 feet. Swimmers exercise by swim-
ming against the current created by
the jets. Prices for this type of swim spa
start at $10,000.
Lap pools became popular in the
1980s and for those who have the
space, they continue to be as popular
as ever. Most are outdoors but some
are inside — indeed, some people
build an addition to their home
specifically to contain their lap pool.
There are no statistics on how many
of those more than three million
residential inground pools are lap
pools. But the trend these days, notes
Nelson, is to even longer and wider lap
pools. She says, "Traditionally, this pool
was one-lap wide but now you can
have two laps wide or an L-shape." In
the L-shape, the long part of the L func-
tions as a lap pool, the short part as
a shallow play pool.
Local Likes
Jack Roberts Pools only builds in-
ground gunite pools. Although the
company has built pools for as low as
$15,000 and as high as $60,000, the
average pool in Michigan costs
$20,000 to $21,000 estimates the firm's
Andy Campbell. This price includes a
concrete deck but no fencing or
landscaping.
The last couple of years has seen a
change in local design preferences.
"We've gone from free-form pools to
more straighter-lined pools," says
Campbell. "It has a lot to do with ex-
ercise and using pools for fitness;
pools have moved from aesthetics to
more practical use. Also, architecture
has changed, and people tend to build
pools that match the style of their
house. Lately, more and more
contemporary-style houses are being
built in suburban developments, and
that means a more contemporary-style
pool."
While a pool with a diving end re-
mains the most popular type of pool
the company builds, the shape has
changed. Now, rather than a rec-
tangular or free-form pool, a
geometric-shaped pool is in vogue. "It
could be L-shaped or a triangle or a
square," Campbell says.
However, because of heating and
operating costs, pool size has diminish-
ed. People who used to typically build
a 20 by 40 foot pool are now opting
for 18 by 36 feet or 16 by 32 feet.
As for extra features, Campbell men-
tions the whirlpool-spa area, either at-
tached to one end or to one side of the
pool. In fact, he says, "customers are
doing smaller pools but with lots of
features like spas." Another popular
extra is installing a computerized con-
trol system for every function of the
pool.
Because of the weather, almost all
lap pools in the Detroit area are built
SPRING '90
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