El Pintado Pool Pavilion

Project Details

Project Description

The new pool pavilion became the centerpiece of an extensive pool and landscape remodel. New features include an added spa, patios of sand-blasted concrete and bluestone, gas fire pit, upper level water feature that spills into the main pool and the pool pavilion with bathroom and outdoor kitchen. The pavilion was placed on a raised section of the patio overlooking the pool with views to the surrounding hills. The project was a collaboration between the landscape architect, builder and homeowner. The pavilion was envisioned as a simple composition of a wide anchoring column structure that could double as a bathroom with a nearly flat roof intersecting and wrapping the column and supported on the other end by a single off-center post. This creates the effect of the roof plane jutting out unsupported on one corner, with no post to get in the way of views out to the hills (and views towards the flat screen TV from the spa). The trick to the cantilevered corner was to create a straight-sided steel C - shaped structure with the top hidden in the ceiling and the bottom underground. The bottom beam of the C became reinforced concrete through engineering. A hidden steel beam attached to the bathroom column supports the other end of the roof. A water feature wraps the pavilion on two sides and spills via 5 stainless spillways to the pool. Concrete stepping pads lead across one leg of the water feature towards the fire pit and spa. Water originates from under a slightly raised dining patio of square-cut bluestone. The bathroom column was finished inside and out with a smooth stucco the color of fresh concrete. A frosted glass door with a contrasting red-brown frame allows light to enter, as does a large skylight spanning the entire ceiling. A niche in the inside wall allows for the display of art pieces from the owners' international journeys. The ceiling of the pavilion is finished in clear cedar and the covered kitchen features stainless steel appliances, mahogany cabinetry and granite counters. The pavilion with its amazing floating roof and simple structural composition, combined with its usefulness as an outdoor kitchen, bathroom and entertainment destination represent a marriage of form and function that is as comfortable as it is compelling.