Infinity Pools
Everything
You Need to Know About Infinity Pools
From here to infinity is the view you get
in a swimming pool with a vanishing edge.
Infinity pools make you feel as if you are
one with the horizon, floating above the landscape, luxuriating in sky, and
finally understanding how it feels to be a bird.
So…exactly how do infinity pool designers
accomplish the disappearing act?
So many questions. If you’re adding a
backyard pool, should you ask for a wildly Instagrammable #infinitypool design?
Or will today’s design darlings go the way
of the kidney-shaped pool of yesteryear? How much do infinity pools cost,
anyway?
Read on for everything you need to know
about infinity swimming pools.
1. What is an infinity pool?
 |
| Above: An infinity swimming pool with a panoramic view creates romance in Italy (as if Italy needs more romance). |
An infinity pool, also known as a zero edge pool, looks like it disappears into the horizon.
An infinity pool is designed to play a visual trick on the eye, making you think that there is no separation between the water and surrounding landscape features.
2. Who invented infinity pools?
 |
| Above: In a garden designed by Edmund Hollander, a modern-Gatsby infinity pool extends to the horizon and has an unobstrusive coping edge. |
There’s a lot of debate about the
historical precedents for today’s infinity swimming pools.
In earlier centuries, recirculating
fountains with water spilling over the edge into basins were precursors to
infinity pools.
In the US, modernist architect John Lautner
began building swimming pools with a vanishing edge in southern California in
the mid 20th century.
One of his famous
early designs, at the Silvertop home commissioned by industrialist Kenneth
Reiner, was “a cantilevered swimming pool
that seems to flow directly into Silver Lake Reservoir far below,” notes
the LA Conservancy.
Today a “Lautner knife-edge design” refers
to an infinity pool where water flows
outward to the edge of the pool at deck level and overflows into a slot at the
edge.
The treatment of
the coping distinguishes a Lautner knife-edge pool from an infinity pool with
submerged coping where “you look down and
see wet decking or coping material at the edge of the pool,” writes Brian
Van Bower in Pool Spa News.
“But when you approach a knife-edge perimeter-overflow
pool, you look down inside the pool to the full depth of water and your feet
remain dry. It’s a genuinely cool detail that creates a certain ‘wow’ factor,
because it mystifies, intrigues and delights those who know nothing about how
these systems are made.”
3. How do infinity pools work?
 |
| Above: A 10th-Century Castle Swimming Pool of the Week: A Modern Infinity Pool for a Medieval Castle |
To understand how an infinity pool’s design
works, imagine a waterfall. You see water go over the edge of a waterfall and —
disappear into thin air.
What really happens, of course, is that the
water flows down to a lower level and (depending on how steep a waterfall’s
slope is) is captured in a lower pool, which then overflows again as more
volume cascades down from the top.
An infinity pool is sort of like a
waterfall with a single lower level — one section of the pool’s edge is lower,
acting like a dam which overflows into a lower catch basin.
From there, water is pumped back into the
upper pool to create a continuous overflow.
4. What is an infinity pool edge?
 |
| Above: A swimming pool at a Napa Hills estate, by Scott Lewis Landscape Architecture. See more in Ask the Expert: An Insider’s Guide to Swimming Pool Design from Scott Lewis. |
An infinity pool’s edge is like the edge of
any swimming pool, except that there’s a dip in one section of it to allow
water to flow over, into a lower catchment basin.
To create the disappearing-edge illusion,
infinity pools are designed without a visible cap: at the deck level, there’s
nothing — coping, pavers, or decking — to call attention to the edge.
5. What sites are best for infinity pools?
 |
| Above: A landscape by designer Ive Haugeland with “awe-inspiring views of the Pacific Ocean” in Sausalito, California has an infinity pool sited on a steep hillside. |
“An infinity-edge pool needs an appropriate setting,” says San
Francisco-based landscape architect Scott Lewis.
While it can be a striking design element,
this type of pool works best on a site with a significant drop-off, he says.
6. What is the world’s best-known infinity pool?
 |
| Above: At the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, a rooftop swimming pool is 57 floors above street level and has a panoramic city view. |
The most famous infinity pool in the world?
That would be the cantilevered pool on the rooftop at the Marina Bay Sands
hotel in Singapore.
People travel from around the world to swim
in it or to take photos of it. The views of the city are dizzying. Check them
out on Instagram: #marinabaysandspool.
7. How much does a typical infinity pool cost?
 |
| Above: Infinity pool as Mediterranean muse. For more see Landscape Architect Visit: Thomas Doxiadis on Antiparos. Photograph by Clive Nichols. |
The catchment and recirculation systems in
an infinity pool add a degree of difficulty — and expense — beyond a basic
swimming pool.
To prevent pool water from flowing in the
wrong direction, you also need a vacuum basin, plus a special filtration system
to remove leaves, bugs, and other debris from the pool’s edge.
Pool designers estimate that a vanishing
edge will add 30 percent to the cost of any in-ground pool. And that’s for one
disappearing edge.
Some infinity pools are designed to allow
water to overflow on more than one side of the perimeter, which adds to the
cost.
The average cost of an infinity pool?
$79,000, estimates Home Advisor, with an average range from $55,000 to
$130,000.( The base cost per square foot is about $80.)
8. Are infinity pools safe?
 |
| Above: A pool with an infinity edge; Lewis sited it to take advantage of a dramatic view. Photograph by John Sutton. |
Yes, infinity pools are safe. Remember, the
disappearing edge is a visual trick, not an actual disappearing edge.
If you swim up to
the edge of the pool, you’ll reach a wall. (At the Marina Bay Sands hotel’s
infinity pool 57 stories above street level in Singapore, “Contrary to what I thought prior to visiting, the pool does not just
completely drop off into nothing as it appears to,” writes The Wander
Blogger.
“A few feet beneath the edge of the infinity pool is
another platform, so were you to somehow flip over the edge of the pool, that’s
where you’d land. But if you then fell off that second ledge, you’d be pretty
well screwed, so security makes sure no monkey business goes on at the pool’s
edge. Even lifting yourself up to look over the edge will get a whistle blown
at you.”)
9. Do infinity pools require additional
maintenance?
 |
| Above: Residents of this serene home by Deborah Berke Partners can choose between their infinity pool or the ocean when they’re ready to take a dip. For more from NYC-based Berke, see Architect Visit: Deborah Berke and Suzanne Shaker in Shelter Island. |
Residents of this serene home by Deborah Berke Partners can choose between their infinity pool or the ocean when they’re ready to take a dip.
Infinity pool technology is more
complicated than old-fashioned pool technology, so expect more maintenance
requirements as well.
The water catchment basin is an additional
area to clean, for one thing.
The filtration and water pump need to be
monitored; if one gets clogged or the other breaks down, there will be no
effective recirculation.
And finally, as water flows over the edge of the pool and into a lower basin, it will evaporate faster than in a typical swimming pool.
Michelle Slatalla
New Orleans gardens look like no others in the world, thanks to the city's particular climate, geography and architectural style—not to mention swamplands, floods, hurricanes, deposits of rich alluvial soil, and pestilential insects. Steal these 10 garden ideas from New Orleans for your own garden:
We launched Gardenista in 2012 as the definitive
guide to stylish outdoor spaces. Since then, we've been finding the best design
ideas, from fragrant old French roses to midcentury house numbers. Whether your
outdoor space is a city balcony or a sprawling garden, it's yours to
personalize and we're here to help.
We’re a team of garden
obsessives with a mission to demystify outdoor design. When it comes to a
well-loved and well lived-in landscape, the best advice comes from like-minded
friends.
https://www.gardenista.com/posts/everything-need-know-infinity-pools-design-guide/
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