Eric Kant likes to work with symmetrical designs and that symmetry has created an awesome setting for this pool walkway that leads from the indoor living area of a Wellness Centre to the hot tub and sauna area as well as to the gardens. This view of the walkway is looking towards the hot tub area with the outdoor showers mounted on the left, barely visible against the stamped pattern on the concrete walls. The concrete walls are complimented with the stacked stone walls in the pool area. The tall hedging behind the stone walls gives vertical height, privacy and an organic touch to this otherwise man made setting.
The pool is accessible on either side by a small flight of stairs. A cascading waterfall spills out of the stone walls on each side, creating both the pleasant sound of water in motion and the calming rippling visuals that go along with the water’s movement.
At the end of the walkway is a privacy screen that hides the hot tub. Here you can enjoy both the atmosphere of the space as well as the soothing water jets. The screen is louvered to allow the hot tub users to look through and beyond.
A ledge divides the hot tub area from the pool area – just perfect for sitting on or placing a drink. At the far end of the walkway is a pair of louvered gates that lead first to the garden and then to the outdoor terrace area.
On either side of the louvered gates is a row of cedar hedging that connects visually to the vines and trees beyond the stone walls. Although the Wellness centre is surrounded by buildings, the pool area maintains its privacy with the well thought out vertical structures and greenery.
The view from the gardens into the pool area is reduced to the view through the gate louvers. Two spotlights planted in the grass continue the symmetry that Eric likes as does the concrete curbing around the hedging.
The spotlights continue into the garden areas for a stunning display of light and shadow in the late evenings.
Just past the garden a small flight of stairs leads up to a covered terrace. Here lights are embedded into the concrete steps for both safety and visual effects, Spotlights shine down from the deck arbour and a firepit glows from its flickering flames.
The firepit under the terrace has a wide edge for both sitting on and placing small plates of food or drink. It is surrounded by a long bank of comfy, cozy seating. The conversation area is covered while the large outdoor dining area just beside it is left open to the sky.
What a beautiful setting for an evening gathering below the stars.
The journey from the terrace to the hot tub is a short one. Through the louvered gates you can see the short flight of stairs that lead from the terrace down to the garden. Once in the hot tub area, you can have a rain shower on a sunny day from one of the two shower stalls mounted in the stamped concrete privacy wall.
The pattern stamped in the concrete is organic in form and seems to portray shadows through shrubbery as though the concrete was an extension of the greenery behind it.
Just behind the hot tub on one side is a sauna and on the other a changing/washroom. Past both of those is the indoor dining and lounge area
The sauna is large and spacious, ready to accommodate either an individual or a group of people. Just outside bench seating wraps around the wall for a cooler place to relax before or after entering the room.
The changing room is simple in décor. A small bench, a sink and a few pegs on the wall are all that’s needed to switch into your swimwear.
In you prefer to shower indoors, the changing room also has a walk in shower.
The changing room and sauna create a backdrop for an indoor eating area complete with bench seating that wraps the wall on the sauna side. The glass ceiling and the natural edge planks used for siding on the sauna and changing rooms keep the outdoor feel to the space alive. The contemporary pendant suspended by two chains from the ceiling creates an organic flow as does the plank table top and stacked stone wall.
A bar area across from the table is well stocked and a gas fireplace is inset into the stone wall on one side with a TV mounted on the other side. Once again Eric has kept true to his symmetry in design.
At night the lights feel like stars shining through the glass ceiling. And the warm glow of the fire is an inviting focal point. Glass doors slide into place to close off the outdoor hot tub area from the indoor space.
Of course, you can still enjoy the hot tub at night, and who wouldn’t want to enjoy a dip in the tub on a beautiful starry evening with the pool just a few feet away in one direction and the bar just a few feet away in the opposite direction, and if you feel like traveling a little further, there is always the firepit beyond the garden gate. Pure bliss.
Eric Kant Contemporary Design
