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| The large marble-and-steel sculpture seems to dominate while you're inside the house, but it becomes a component in a large composition once you move out to the backyard. The views of Guy Dill's piece are fantastic from any angle, day or nigh, with great reflections reaching all the way out to the sharp visual edge of the perimeter-overflow pool in virtually any light. |
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| we wanted visitors to get a glimpse of the sculpture as they entered the house as a means of drawing them to the backyard. |
the pool decking consists of irregularly set bluestone provided by Malibu Stone of Malibu Calif. The colors harmonize with those of the house in ways that soften the sense of stylistic differences. The same material was used for a stacked ledger detail on the outdoor cooking area located at the entrance to the side yard by the wooden deck.
The pool also features a flamed black granite coping or interior ledge that blends beautifully with the pool's black plaster, works well with the bluestone ad provides a necessary non-slip surface around the perimeter of the pool.
Given the fact that the design was to focus on the Dill sculpture, we spent a considerable amount of time working through possible placements. In fact, no fewer than six meetings were devoted mainly to this subject, and we all knew the decision had to be both well-considered and final because the pedestal was to be part of the pool's structure.
We wanted visitors to get a glimpse of the sculpture as they entered the house as a means of drawing them to the backyard. To ease the placement process, I developed a full-scale template for the basic pieces of the sculpture and moved it along the far side of the pool so the clients could pick a precise location.
Again, it was all about visually linking interior and exterior spaces: This placement worked to everyone's satisfaction and construction began in earnest. |
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dark beauty
Working to create a dramatic reflecting pool, designer Stephanie Rose asked us to develop a jet-black plaster finish - and it turned out to be the darkest I've ever installed.
The plaster is a custom blend of black ColorQuartz aggregate from 3M (St. Paul, Minn.) in a black-dyed plaster matrix that we blended with a special anti-cracking material to prevent calcium bleed and nodule development through the life of the surface.
As anyone who's worked with dark plaster knows, it's one thing to mix and install the finish and quite another to start it up so that the color holds. In this case, any trace of calcium-carbonate plaster dust from the start-up process adhered to the surface would ruin the appearance.
To prevent problems, we used a start-up method recommended by chemistry expert and consultant Randy Dukes. We started with a traditional approach and let things run for 60 days, during which time a small amount of calcium deposition occurred on the surface.
Next, we dropped the total alkalinity and pH to immeasurably low levels to dissolve the plaster dust. We then drained the pool, removing the calcium-saturated water, and quickly refilled it, balancing the chemistry as the vessel filled. When we were done, we were thrilled to see the plaster was a remarkably uniform black.
In a dark pool such as this, it's also critical to be sure that none of the interior fittings disrupt the look. This was a simple matter of selecting black anti-vortex main drain covers. (We always install split main drains to avoid the risk of entrapment.) We also painted the inside of the return lines black so that no white OVC would be visible.
--Randy Beard |
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