inside: team dynamics • elevating concrete …george yoggy has been involved in concrete...

FINDING IDEAS WHILEVISITING TREASURED PARKS

FINDING IDEAS WHILEVISITING TREASURED PARKS

INSIDE: Team Dynamics • Elevating Concrete Standards • A Pool for Stargazing

D e s i g n

E n g i n e e r i n g

C o n s t r u c t i o n

Volume 11Number 9

September 2009 $7.00

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44

50

56

september 2009

Luxury with a Twist

By Ben Dozier& Michael Percy

A wall-to-wall project,from the ground up

The Elevated Game

By George Yoggy

An expert’s viewson concrete standards

Eyes on the SkiesBy Jim Wilder

Steel, stone, water anda client’s stellar dream

National Wonders

By Rick Driemeyer

Finding inspirationin nature’s bounty

4 • watershapes september 2 00 9 www.watershapes.com

Features

Contents

In This Issue

Advertiser Index

Spotlight Index

In the Spotlight

66

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66

68

WATERSHAPES (ISSN 1522-6581) is published monthly by McCloskey Communications, Inc. 6119 Lockhurst Dr.,Woodland Hills, CA 91367. A controlled circulation publication, WaterShapes is distributed without charge to quali-fied subscribers. Non-qualified subscription rates in the U.S., $30 per year; Canada and Mexico $48 per year; all othercountries $64 per year, payable in U.S. funds. Single copies $10 per issue in the U.S. and Canada. All other coun-tries $15 per issue. Subscription requests must include name, job title, business location, address information anda signature and date. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to WaterShapes, P.O. Box 1216, Lowell, MA 01853-9930.Periodicals postage rates paid at Woodland Hills, CA 91365 and additional mailing offices.

Volume 11 • Number 9

On the Cover: Photo by Jim McCloskey

StructuresBy Eric Herman

On studying andappreciating nature

6

Aqua CultureBy Brian Van Bower

Placing a valueon team players

10

On the LevelBy Bruce Zaretsky

Filling gaps inhands-on education

CurrentsBy Dave Peterson

Digging deeper intoProject Manuals

Book NotesBy Mike Farley

Focusing on excellencein uncertain times

74

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Columns

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EditorEric Herman — 949.494-4533

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Through the years, WaterShapes has published numerous columns and ar-ticles that speak to the value of studying and appreciating nature. Time andagain, for example, contributors ranging from Brian Van Bower to AnthonyArcher Wills (along with others too numerous to list) have waxed eloquentabout the importance of getting out and taking good, long looks at the waythings get done in the natural world.

Those of you who have not been inclined to take that message seriouslywill get quite a break on September 27, when the Public Broadcasting Systemwill begin airing “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,”a six-part series byrenowned documentarian Ken Burns. I think every watershaper should giveit a look – especially those of you who haven’t yet taken the time to explore thesetreasured resources on your own.

Burns has offered some amazing historical portraits in the past, including“The Civil War,”“Jazz,”“The West” and “Baseball,” and his ability to tell com-plex, sweeping stories is probably unmatched among today’s filmmakers. I forone can’t wait to see what he manages to do with our national parks.

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It’s entirely coincidental, but in this issue we offer our own mini-documen-tary on a select group of national parks in the form of “Natural Wonders” bywatershape and landscape artist Rick Driemeyer (page 56). This beautifully il-lustrated piece – part travelogue, part meditation – covers his experiences inYosemite,Zion,Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon,all of which have, in verydifferent ways,been shaped primarily by water and have been encouraging andinspiring him since long before he started his career.

After working with Driemeyer in preparing his article – and anticipating thatKen Burns’ documentary will be another in his growing line of masterpieces– I can honestly say that a trip to Yosemite, the Grand Canyon or even the much-closer Los Padres National Forest will be in my plans for the coming year. Andmy guess is that, all things considered, the same might be true for you, too.

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For several years now, I’ve witnessed all sorts of discussions (some of themheated) about whether pneumatically applied concrete (either shotcrete or gu-nite) produces permeable or impermeable structures, the subtext always beingquestions about the adequacy of the pool industry’s standards for compressivestrength. In those exchanges, the name of concrete expert George Yoggy keptcropping up, so I contacted him and was pleased to hear that he was more thanwilling to help clear the air.

In “The Elevated Game”(page 44), he approaches concrete science from theperspective of one who builds tunnels, dams and mines, so he treats the ma-terial and the subject with gravity and rare practical insight. For watershaperswho routinely use pneumatically placed concrete in far less critical applications,my hunch is that Yoggy’s piece will be enlightening and influential and perhapseven invaluable.

Extreme TreatmentsBy Eric Herman

tructuresS

6 • watershapes september 2009 www.watershapes.com

Ben Dozier is partner and principal of design at RootDesign Co., a landscape architecture, pool construction andestate management firm located in Austin, Texas. The firmfocuses primarily on private commissions related to resi-dential estates, with an emphasis on unique gardens andwatershapes. A graduate of Western State College inGunnison, Colo., with a degree in recreation business,Dozier has extended his studies in the industry through theMike Lin Graphic Workshop and continuing educationcourses sanctioned by the American Society of LandscapeArchitects (ASLA), the Association of Pool & SpaProfessionals and Genesis 3. He currently serves as chair ofASLA’s Design/Build Professional Practice Network.Michael Percy, ASLA, is senior landscape architect at RootDesign Co. A graduate of Louisiana State University, he hasbeen certified by the Council of Landscape Architectural

Registration Boards (CLARB) and the Texas Recreation &Park Society. Before assuming his current position, he heldpositions at Jeffrey Carbo Studio, Mesa Design Group andHNTB Corp., refining skills in design and management ofhigh-profile public projects that he is now applying in resi-dential contexts.

George Yoggy has been involved in concrete application forthe construction and repair of critical structures for nearly 50years. From 1967 to 1986, he owned and operated ConcreteEquipment Corp. and Shotcrete Plus, both of which were en-gaged in the design, manufacture and supply of equipmentused in shotcreting and concrete placement in NorthAmerica’s tunnel and mining industries. In 1986, the compa-ny was acquired by Master Builders, Inc., for which Yoggy es-tablished the Underground Construction Group of MBT

n This IssueISeptember’s Writers



Americas. He currently serves on various committees, includ-ing American Concrete Institute Committee 506 (Shotcrete),and is a member of the board of directors of the AmericanShotcrete Association and president of the AmericanUnderground Construction Association. He is also an activeparticipant and respected leader spearheading a number ofconcrete industry initiatives.

Jim Wilder is founder and owner of Living Water Creations,a Santa Rosa, Calif., design and construction firm focused oncustom waterfeatures for both residential and commercialclients. He is also founder and owner of Pond & FountainPros, a pond and fountain supply firm also based in SantaRosa. A 1975 graduate with a degree in geophysics fromSonoma State University (Rohnert Park, Calif.),Wilder beganhis working life in engineering and geophysics before shifting

Interested in writing for WaterShapes on design, engineering or construction topics? Contact Eric Herman at (949) 494-4533!

to watershaping on a full-time basis 22 years ago. In his sparetime, he is an accomplished three-cushion billiards player.

Rick Driemeyer is founder and president of Both Sides ofthe Door, a watershape and landscape design/build firmbased in Oakland, Calif. His design career began in AnnArbor, Mich., in the early 1970s, when he became a specialistin interior landscapes and watershapes. After moving toCalifornia and expanding his work to include exteriors, he es-tablished his current company in 1981, deriving its unusualname from the fact that he now works with both interior andexterior spaces. An Arizona native, Driemeyer traveled exten-sively as a child with his family and has lived in Florida andPennsylvania as well as Michigan. He credits this exposure todifferent types of landscapes and his parents’ love of the artsand nature as primary design influences.




ne of the themes I’ve covered repeat-edly through the years has had to dowith the need for all of us to become

effective team players. True, there have beentimes when egos have gotten in the way andI’ve found myself in fairly dysfunctionalgroups, but for all that, I have to say that col-laboration very often yields great results.

In fact, the vast majority of team projects inwhich I get involved these days are wonderfulcollaborations among clients, architects andgeneral contractors as well as (depending onthe project) interior designers, landscape ar-chitects, lighting designers and more. Of allthose practitioners, landscape architects aretypically those with whom I work most close-ly as a watershape designer,but I also exchangeideas with everyone else on these teams as well.

These days, we’re most often brought in byeither the architect or, more often, the land-scape architect – and we’re very fortunate that,in a number of cases, the landscape architects

we work with get us involved in all of their projects that featurewater. That’s great for us because it lets us focus on designingrather than marketing – and even better because some of theprojects we’re called in on are truly awesome.

when it worksAs I’ve indicated, most of the time these collaborations yield

terrific results. Recently, for example, we designed a set of wa-tershapes for Pond Bay, a resort in the Bahamas – and actuallyended up designing the project twice.

The first time around,we designed a pool area on the water. Itwas quite nice,we were paid for our work and everyone was hap-pily awaiting construction. But before anything happened on site,the owners brought in a management firm and,somewhere alongthe line, we learned that the exterior areas were to be completelyredesigned and that the architect wanted us to tackle the revisions.

This time around, there were many more players, includinga landscape architect,an interior designer,an irrigation specialistand a firm that was to develop the outdoor sound system.Indeed, there were 18 or so of us around the table, and all sortsof ideas flowed back and forth. (Before the session ended, bythe way, the landscape architect pulled me aside and mentionedhow much he enjoys my columns in WaterShapes – as I see it,a wonderful foundation for a great collaboration!)

The new design includes a beautiful bar area accessed by a bridgecrossing over a large pond at the access point to the outdoor area.There’s also an indoor/outdoor restaurant adjacent to anotherdecorative waterfeature as well as a raised perimeter-overflow poolthat appears to flow into a lower pool set right on the ocean.

Everyone was involved, everything was positive and ideasaimed at making the project better flowed constantly. At nopoint during our initial meeting or during the ensuing process(which involved a considerable number of e-mails) was thereever a hint of ego. And that was great, because we were all un-der tremendous pressure to deliver our plans within 30 days:Everyone just pulled together and the process clicked.

I came away from that experience thinking that I would morethan welcome the opportunity to work with any of these profes-

Setting Egos Aside

There’s absolutely nothingwrong with acknowledging

that other people bring different skills to the

collaborative process: Weshould recognize the benefitsof tapping into their acumen.

By Brian Van Bower

qua CultureA

O

sionals again in the future,and I’m reason-ably confident that it will happen at somepoint, basically because we developed thesort of practical,professional camaraderieyou don’t soon forget.

Things don’t always work out so posi-tively,of course,which is why at this writ-ing I’m living through the hell of being part

of a team that lacks any sense of cohesionor common purpose. It’s a nightmare,pureand simple: The clients are members of awell-known family, and they brought meinto the project directly, adding me to ateam that already included a general con-tractor, an architect and a landscape ar-chitecture firm,of which only the general

contractor was familiar to me.I won’t name names here,as it’s not my

intention to tarnish anyone’s reputation,but I must reserve the privilege of sayingthat the landscape architects in this casehave been particularly (and almost in-credibly) difficult. It was clear from thestart that they resented my participationand didn’t see any need for me to be thereat all. Right away, in fact, I received a callwarning me not to change anything theyproposed and indicating in very clearterms that they would only be satisfied ifI made no suggestions of any kind.

forging aheadMy staff and I work with swimming

pools every day,and the homeowner hadpaid me good money to offer ideas thatI thought would improve the project. Itmade no sense to me on any level that thelandscape architects would categoricallyrefuse to listen to (let alone consider) mysuggestions. After all,what harm is therein entertaining different ideas?

But they stuck to their guns from wallto wall, and I have to say that the result-ing design is nothing I’d ever want to seecovered in WaterShapes. They were rude,which I guess I can handle, but I also seethis as a complete injustice to the client.

To give just one example of what I mean,the landscape architects insisted on out-fitting the pool with commercial-style tilegutters – a key,they said,to the sort of“retro”look they were after. I didn’t want to bestubborn,but I saw a good reason why thisis a retro (that is,no longer commonly used)look: It wasn’t all that great an approachback in the day, and as an industry we’vefound muchbetter alternatives in the yearssince gutters were commonly used!

The landscape architects also thoughtthat the gutters would provide goodhandholds for children – which is true,but we could easily have accommodatedthat concern with any of a number ofmore aesthetically pleasing coping treat-ments. It was, in short, a dumb designdetail that I would never use, given achoice. But I had none, so now the sys-tem meets all of the hydraulic require-ments of (and expense related to) a fullperimeter-overflow system with ab-solutely none of the good looks.

qua CultureA


For more info, go to www.watershapes.com/ads Continued on page 14


What’s worse is that the entire processhas been a small war, with every aspectof the design becoming a silly point ofcontention. As I see it, it was all becausethe landscape architects couldn’t controltheir collective egos to the point wherethey would accept input, even fromsomeone the client himself brought into gain the advantage of a watershapespecialist’s perspective.

And it’s not just landscape architects –not by a long shot. In fact, I’ve seen situa-tions where the swimming pool contrac-tors are the ones acting like prima donnas.

As my Genesis 3 colleague David Tish-erman often points out, there are manypool builders who scoff at the “artiness”of the design process: They are so con-cerned about the technical side and con-struction details that they recoil at themention of color theory, art history orcreative materials selection. To a large ex-tent, overcoming that tendency withinthe pool industry is exactly why Genesis3 exists – and why this magazine has al-

ways been so important.I am amazed and disappointed that,at

this late date, there are still pool contrac-tors who are stuck in the past, offeringcookie cutter designs that provide clientswith precious little by way of aestheticvalue. The only explanation I can see isthat these individuals can’t suppress theiregos to the point where they can acceptthe need to learn a new trick or two.

My additional guess is that currenteconomic conditions will drive many ofthese folks out of the marketplace, butI doubt we’ll ever truly be rid of that typeof limited thinking.

another directionThe plain fact is people on the swim-

ming pool end of the watershaping in-dustry stand to gain a great deal from col-laborating with and paying attention to thework done by landscape architects, manyof whom are truly accomplished artists.

I know I’ve learned a great deal fromlandscape architects such as Raymond

Jungles, who does a lot of work in southFlorida and the Caribbean and withwhom I’ve crossed paths on a number ofprojects. Not only is he wildly creative andextremely knowledgeable, but he is alsotremendously open to input from others.

When any watershaper has the chanceto team up with designers of such high cal-iber,we should always view these situationsas golden opportunities to develop our owndesign skills. After all, landscape architectshave been schooled in design principlesand practices and quite often approach thewatershaping process with different and(often) more educated points of view thanthe typical pool designer or contractor.

As I see it, there’s absolutely nothingwrong with acknowledging that otherpeople bring different skills and experi-ence to the process: Just as many land-scape architects do well by accepting in-put from smart swimming pool designersand contractors,we too should recognizethe benefits of tapping into their acumenwhen such opportunities arise.

To show how well this can work, I’mcurrently working on a project that willbe built on a small semi-private island inthe Bahamas. In this case, the initial dis-cussions on collaboration have beenseamless and are a perfect example of howvarious areas of expertise can mesh.

In this case,before I was brought in, thearchitect had designed a beautiful van-ishing-edge pool with radii on each endwhere he located shallow lounging areas.In my discussions with the client, I sug-gested that the vanishing edge should ex-tend all the way around the two ends andthat the depth of the lounging areasshould be set at six inches instead of a foot.

By then I was on a roll and also expressedthe thought that a planter would be a nicetransitional feature outside the catch basin:This way, the basin could be raised fromabout seven feet below the edge to about30 inches – a safety measure that would, Iopined,eliminate a risk of falling and alsocreate a smoother visual transition whenthe pool was observed from below.

Then I suggested that the other edgesshould become a deck-level perimeteroverflow feature, topping it all off withthe thought that, given the fact that wa-ter is an extremely precious commodity

qua CultureA


for the island’s residents, it would be agood idea to establish the entire deck asa water-harvesting area – and that all itwould really entail was increasing thesurge tank’s capacity so it could store rain-water that could then be used for the pool.

Those were some fairly significantchanges, and I asked the homeowner ifthe architect might be bruised by such apile of ideas. He assured me that, al-though the gentleman had an ego, he’dalso known him to be highly susceptibleto the charms of ideas that would makethe project better.

a fine exampleBy coincidence, I spoke with the ar-

chitect just before sitting down to com-pose this column and used the opportu-nity to go over all of my suggestions withhim. I started by explaining that my goalin all projects is to work with everyoneinvolved to make the design as good as itpossibly can be in both functional and

aesthetic terms. He immediately indi-cated that he was also an advocate of teamefforts and would be happy to runthrough my ideas, no problem.

Although we’re still in the midst of de-veloping and refining the design,I’m con-fident that many of the features I’ve sug-gested will be included – and that, whenit’s completed, this will almost certainlybe a project I’ll proudly add to my port-folio and about which I will likely submita feature article to WaterShapes. Andwhen the time comes, you may rest as-sured I will be certain to credit the archi-tect for his contributions.

The upshot is that everyone involvedin projects such as these (and especiallythe homeowners) will benefit from think-ing that’s open-minded and unaffectedby ego. I’m not saying ego is a bad thing– it’s what keeps lots of designers goingthrough thick and thin – but that it canbecome a problem if it gets in the way ofa project’s optimal outcome.

Custom watershapes can be costly andoften become major components of ourclients’ homes and lifestyles. We needegos to have the self-confidence and self-assuredness required to make importantdesign decisions, but we also need to besecure enough in our skills and humbleenough in our mindsets to be receptiveto input from others on design teamswho have what it takes to help refine andpolish ideas to a perfect luster.

When people who respect each othercome together and get to work,then we allhave the opportunity to create projects thatare as good as they possibly can be.



WS

Brian Van Bower runs Aquatic Consultants,a design firm based in Miami, Fla., and is aco-founder of the Genesis 3 Design Group;dedicated to top-of-the-line performance inaquatic design and construction, this orga-nization conducts schools for like-minded pooldesigners and builders. He can be reachedat [email protected].

On the Level


n my capacity as landscape consultant toa town near where I live, I was approachedrecently by a landscape architect who was

just starting her career after graduating froma prestigious, five-year landscape architectureprogram in my home state of New York.

She was designing a butterfly garden, shesaid, and wanted to know what plants to use.As I ran down the list, she asked me to stop atone name in particular and spell it. The plantin question was Clethra alnifolia, commonlyknown as “Summersweet” – a New York na-tive widely known for attracting butterfliesand hummingbirds.

I bring this up because, frankly, I was flab-bergasted that after five years of education,thisnewly minted landscape architect seemed tohave no knowledge of local fauna. I’m the firstto acknowledge that there are far too manyplants out there for any of us to know all of them,but I was left to wonder if they’d taught her any-thing at all about plants as part of her studies.

This wasn’t the first time I’d had such anexperience. In fact, I’ve been taken abackby the lack of practical knowledge landscapearchitects bring to the process more times

than I care to consider – and can’t say I’m surprised that it’sespecially a problem among those just coming out of school.

point of consensusThe episode with the butterfly garden brought back to mind

a dialogue started several years back by Bill Thompson, editorof Landscape Architecture (the official publication of the AmericanSociety of Landscape Architects): In his column, he’d asked ifstudents of landscape architecture should be trained in the fieldas well as in the classroom.

I responded with a long letter in which I asserted that, ab-solutely, all landscape architecture students should be requiredto spend time in the field learning about the ramifications oftheir design work. They should know, I wrote, exactly whatit’s like to dig holes, set bricks, prepare soils for planting, shootgrades, install drainage systems and witness the effects of theirhydraulic designs – among myriad other experiences.

It was strongly put, and I fully expected some blowback fromlandscape architects – but was delighted instead when every oth-er letter the magazine published fell in with my line of thinking.Here were schooled, experienced landscape architects sayingthey would have benefited greatly from in-the-field training!

What I learned through this exchange is that most (if not all)landscape architecture programs at major universities place lit-tle emphasis (or none at all) on providing or encouraging stu-dents to obtain field experience. I see this as a major deficien-cy in the training of these young professionals.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am not a landscape archi-tect. Some 30 years ago, after just finishing my first year of col-lege in pursuit of a career in chemistry, I stopped in at a LongIsland landscape company’s office and asked for a job. Thatsame day, I was driven out to a hot, dusty construction site andwas handed a shovel to use in leveling off soil that had beendumped onto a parking-lot island by a huge loader.

Through that summer and those that followed,I kept at it withthat same company, learning to build retaining walls, run plant-ing jobs both large and small,bend steel for gunite pools and in-stall complex drainage systems.

After graduating from college with the degree I’d sought inchemistry, I went right back to the landscape company and be-

Learning by Doing

Most (if not all) landscape architecture programs at major

universities place little emphasis(or none at all) on providing or

encouraging students to obtainfield experience.

By Bruce Zaretsky

I

gan the career I’ve pursued to this day.Even then, I recognized that my four

years of education at a very good schoolhad basically prepared me for an entrylevel job in the vast field of chemistry –but that my summers had prepared mefor success as a landscaper. As I saw it, thetime I’d spent actually doing the workhad been a far better sort of “education.”

practical lessonsI started my own business in 1989,

ready to landscape the world. I mademistakes, of course, and still find newones to indulge in from time to time,butI make certain I learn from them as partof my own growth process.

I will freely acknowledge that a univer-sity education in landscape architecturemight have helped me immensely, but atno time have I ever felt that it could havereplaced those many years of field experi-ence. Indeed,I think everyone should getboth – that is, large doses of classroom

study balanced by time on job sites.Through the years,I’ve worked with lots

of university-trained, fully licensed land-scape architects on a number of differentlevels. One,for example,was an immenselytalented designer who generated terrificideas that worked beautifully – until, thatis, you tried to implement his plans.

He’d never shot a grade (and had noidea how to do so); as a result, we almostalways had to redesign things on site as wemoved along. (We called him “Escher,”because he would indicate changes in el-evation that made no sense whatsoever– including steps that would drop downelevations only to match the elevation fromwhich they’d just descended.)

I once worked with another college-fresh landscape architect on a group pro-ject: He spent the best part of four hoursdrawing a small elevation graphic whilethe rest of us designed and engineered theentire project. His drawing was utterlyflawless and I’ve always been a believer in

the value of great presentations. But in thiscase,great graphic skills didn’t translate tothe design or installation skills we neededat that time to get on with the project.

In another instance,I’d agreed to installa landscape according to a local landscapearchitect’s plan. I liked what I’d seen of hiswork and the plan looked good,but whenI met with the client on site, I saw that thedesigner had left out a key bit of informa-tion: He’d never shot the grades, so weended up having to build a four-foot re-taining wall to support the pool he’d placedwithin ten feet of the property line.

It’s not all landscape architects,either –not by a long shot. I’ve had vast amountsof experience working alongside self-styled landscape designers who are clue-less when it comes to design technique,history,plant choice,engineering or light-ing design and basically go with what“looks good.” I wasn’t far from this whenI first started out,so I won’t cast big stoneshere. Suffice it to say that a lack of edu-


For more info, go to www.watershapes.com/ads For more info, go to www.watershapes.com/ads

n the LevelO

cation paired with an absence of in-the-field experience is the worst-case scenario.

Allow me to repeat: I’m not knockingclassroom education; rather, I’m sayingthat landscape architects need a roughlyequal amount of field experience to goalong with all that classroom education.

giving and takingBefore any landscape architects who

might be reading this call for my head,please let me point out that the fourbiggest influences on my work throughthe years have been (in no particular or-der) James van Sweden,Topher Delaney,

Frederick Law Olmsted and Steve Martino– landscape architects one and all.

What’s interesting about this group isthat all are more than university-trainedlandscape architects: They are true vi-sionaries who understand environmentsand clients and embody immense artis-

2 0 • watershapes september 2 00 9 www.watershapes.com


n the LevelO

Academic Water

How is it possible that schools of landscape architecture seem so uni-versally to have turned their backs on education related to watershapesand watershaping?

So far as I know, the only landscape architecture program in thecountry that takes water seriously (other than as irrigation or drainage)is the one at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, wheremy fellow WaterShapes columnist Mark Holden has been busy press-ing his department to include watershapes-oriented course material inthe curriculum.

As any of us who have worked with water know well, the design and

construction of pools, spas, fountains and more is a discipline that canonly truly be learned by doing, but classroom-based information offers atremendous foundation, while continuing education has benefits that reachout to us throughout our careers.

In reading Mark’s columns on his work at Cal Poly, I know he doesall he can to get his students involved in real-world projects and situa-tions, and I applaud his efforts. My hope is that others involved in cur-riculum development will see the value in what he’s doing and will de-velop coursework that will follow his lead and the classroom/real-worldbalances he shoots for in blazing the trail.

– B.Z.

tic talent. Non-university-trained de-signers can have those same qualities aswell: It’s all a matter of taking those pos-itive qualities and translating them to thereal world by designing things properlyand building them with integrity.

As I see it, there’s a two-way streethere: University-trained landscape ar-chitecture students should be requiredto work in the field – dig holes, carrybricks and do what they’ll soon be ask-ing others to do. They should gain first-hand knowledge of the ramifications oftheir designs and see things not only aspolished presentations but as productspeople build and move through.

Conversely, landscape designers wholearn their craft in the field should be re-quired to learn top-flight graphic skills andamass knowledge on engineering, hy-draulics and the environment as well as in-formation on plants and their specific needs.Most local landscape associations (and allof the national ones including PLANET

and APLD) have good and sometimes greateducation programs to go along with onebig conference per year.

For landscape architects as well as de-signers, I would suggest that technicaltraining in watershaping is of tremen-dous value. Personally, I’ve spent about30 hours in the past few years in semi-nars organized by the Genesis 3 DesignGroup in which I’ve worked on mygraphic skills and taken other classesthat have advanced my water-relatedknowledge base.

Through the years, I’ve also attendednumerous seminars at trade events – fartoo many to count at this point – and I’malso big on books, although when I readabout engineering at night before I fallasleep,my daughter thinks I’m even moreof a geek than she’d care to admit.

Personally, I’ve spent all the years of mylengthening career seeking to strike a bal-ance between the classroom and the field.I am constantly trying to pick up new

ideas, techniques and design treatments,and even when I travel to conferences topresent seminars, I spend the rest of mytime in other instructors’seminars,cram-ming as much into my head as possible.

It doesn’t matter to me that none ofthis is required of me by any agency orlicensing authority: I believe we shouldall be continuously educating ourselvesin order that we may achieve our ulti-mate goal of providing our clients withdramatic, fulfilling, safe and usable ex-terior environments.



n the LevelO

Bruce Zaretsky is president of Zaretsky andAssociates, a landscape design/construc-tion/consultation company in Rochester, N.Y.Nationally recognized for creative and in-spiring residential landscapes, he also workswith healthcare facilities, nursing homes andlocal municipalities in conceiving and installinghealing and meditation gardens. You canreach him at [email protected].

WS

Currents


n my last “Currents”column (June 2009),I began a discussion of Project Manualswith an overview of these written specifi-

cations and other construction documentsand how they are formally bound and madepart of a project’s contract documents. Thistime, we’ll dig inside the manuals and take acloser look at what they contain.

Let me start with a simple recommenda-tion: If you don’t already work with ProjectManuals in some form, now is probably agood time to get started – especially if you’rea watershaper who prepares designs to be builtby others, but also if your approach is to de-sign as well as build. As I see it, having themis the surest way possible to ensure that pro-jects are built as intended, whether it’s by aseparate watershape-construction companyor by your subcontractors.

Practically speaking, this documentationclears the path toward ensuring quality in-stallation. At the same time, it’s also a way to

impose responsibility for achieving that defined level of quali-ty on every project participant through the entirety of the con-struction process.

one section at a timeTo keep things organized, project specifications are general-

ly individualized for each different type or category of equip-ment or assembly involved. In our manuals, for example, wehave separate sections for Valves, Shotcrete and StartupProcedures rather than combining them as a single section, ba-sically because the requirements for one have little or nothingto do with the others.

As assembled, the Valves section might include informationon many different types of valves (ball,needle, swing-check,but-terfly, vacuum relief and others), simply because the require-ments you might list for one valve would be common to valvesof other types as well. As an example, one requirement in thevalve specification might be that “handles, when present, are tobe positioned with the shaft oriented vertically”– unless the piperun is vertical, in which case “the handle shaft should be ori-ented facing the front of the equipment.” This is a requirementthat applies to all types of valves, so there is no need to dividethe valve specification by types and then repeat the informationover and over.

Audience is another consideration in the organization of theindividual sections. The Valves section, to use it as an exam-ple once again, will be reviewed by a plumbing crew that ishighly unlikely to read the Shotcrete section despite the factthat the two trades interface at pipe penetrations. For this rea-son, it is common for specifications to cross-reference one an-other where coordination is an issue: Thus, the shotcrete in-formation might comment on the potential for shadowingcaused by the plumbing’s waterstop flanges: In such a case, areference to the plumbing specifications will provide more in-formation about the size and potential locations of these flangesto guide the shotcrete crew.

The Construction Specifications Institute (www.csinet.org)is responsible for the organizational structure of the specifi-cations and has divided the A/E/C industry into certainDivisions. It has also assigned Section numbers to keep oneconsultant’s information from overlapping with others when

Section Dissection

If you don’t already workwith Project Manuals in some

form, now is probably a good time to get started —

especially if you prepare designs to be built by others.

By Dave Peterson

I

everything is combined into a ProjectManual. Watershapers are part of Di-vision 13 – Special Construction, whichincludes Sections dividing the indus-try into specific categories, such asSection 131200 (Fountains) and 131423(Amusement Park Rides).

Our specifications are mainly includedin Section 131100 (Swimming Pools),butwhen we design commercial fountains,werenumber our documents accordingly.CSI’s MasterFormat standard also allowsfor two-digit suffixes preceded by dots,thereby dividing disciplines into subcate-gories. With a pool project, for instance,we might name these subsections as131100.01 (Shotcrete),131100.02 (Valves)or 131100.03 (Startup Procedures).

Each of these sections can be preparedand maintained individually,but we pre-fer to place ours all in one big file that iscurrently 137 pages long and has some sec-tions of a single page and others that havemultiple pages. As we see it,keeping every-

thing together makes individual itemswithin the file much more “portable” aswell as easier to edit. For example, if I adda requirement to the information I alreadyhave for “perforated drain-pipe used be-hind retaining walls,”I may want to copythat same requirement to the specifica-tions for pool subdrain systems that usethe same perforated pipe.

The best way to keep specifications cur-rent, in our view, is to work with masterlistings before copying files to a specificproject folder and then editing down.This way, work done once can easily berecycled for future projects. (And yes,there are database systems for maintain-ing these documents, but they’re gener-ally used by big architecture or engineer-ing firms that maintain full staffs ofspecification writers.)

triple playWithin each Section there are three

major parts: Part 1 – General (that is,

administrative and procedural require-ments for the section); Part 2 – Products(product and fabrication requirementsin place before installation on the jobsite); and Part 3 – Execution (on-site re-quirements such as installation proce-dures and schedules).

� The General part of the valve spec-ifications, for example,might require thatthe contractor submit to the architect orengineer the product cut-sheets for theactual valves that will be used. Our sheetmight list a few manufacturers of ap-proved ball valves, so the contractor can’tsimply substitute any alternative withoutwritten approval. The General part willalso include things such as informationon abbreviations, definitions, referencedstandards (ASTM or ASME),sequencing,certifications, delivery, storage, handlingand warranties. CSI’s SectionFormat sup-plies the outline for these topics.

� The Products part will list approvedmanufacturers,materials, finishes, colors,



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performance characteristics and other im-portant information about the productsor assemblies that will be basically ready togo when delivered. For example,our valvespecification covers an Asahi/AmericaOmni Ball Valve with Teflon seats and aCPVC housing that may be required forcertain high-heat or ozone applications.The contractor will be held to this highstandard as required in order to completethe installation at hand.

� The Execution part addresses theproduct or assembly in light of the in-stallation itself. This might require spe-cific installers or installer certifications,pre-installation testing (for, say, concretecolors),on-site protection, special instal-lation techniques, interfaces with otherwork, startup, cleaning, close-out proce-dures and other tasks. The valve specifi-cation, for instance, would include re-quirements for priming and solventwelding using primers and glues identi-fied in Part 2 – Products.

And if (for some reason) these primers,glues, Teflon tape, plumber’s putty andother products are handled in anothersection (such as Plumbing), then theExecution part might simply make ref-erence to that other section so the infor-mation is not duplicated.

CSI’s format is somewhat rigid up tothis point, such that if one or two of theParts are not used they are still listed asbeing “Not Used.” In the next levelsdown the hierarchy, however, the struc-ture and content are treated with greaterflexibility.

So far, we’ve looked at Divisions withmultiple Sections (each having three Parts)as they are used to organize a ProjectManual. Now we can further break theParts down into Articles, Paragraphs andSubparagraphs – all of them filled withuseful details.

� Articles are subjects within a Partthat have one or more related paragraphsand subparagraphs. CSI includes a listof these Articles in their SectionFormatdocument, and if this system is followed(as it should be), it makes each sectionflow fairly well with a consistency of or-ganization from one section to the nextthat makes things easier for anyone us-ing the documents. (In the example pro-

vided as Figure 1 on page 30, the Articlesare the bold items indicated as 1.01, 1.02and so on.)

� Paragraphs are components withinthe Articles, and once again CSI providesa good outline to follow. In Figure 1, forexample, the References article containsthree Paragraphs – one each for Ab-breviations and Acronyms; Definitions;and Reference Standards – all suggested byCSI and identified with letters per CSI.

� Subparagraphs provide furtherparsing of the information,and these aregenerally used by the compiler to covertopics suggested by CSI. In Figure 1, weshow this with a subparagraph underReference Standards in which we requirethat the contractor must use valves meet-ing the NSF/ANSI-61 Standard.

CSI’s SectionFormat approach is quitethorough, but in common use it is un-likely that all sections will call for usingthe suggested range of articles, para-graphs and subparagraphs. That said,this layering of information can be quiteuseful in making certain a given prod-uct is used as the designer intends, forexample, or in pursuing details relatedto a concrete mix design or preparationfor plastering.

Another tool CSI has provided is theirPageFormat standard, in which they de-scribe how each page should be pre-pared with respect to formatting, fonts,margins, indentations, layout and oth-er details. All that may seem trivial, butthe overall purpose is to give everythinga standardized look so that when all thesections are assembled into one ProjectManual, it will be consistently readable.

taking controlIn my first column on this subject, I

suggested that anyone not using writtenspecifications should start developingthem by listing solutions to problems al-ready encountered. At the very least,do-ing so should help eliminate repetitionof the same difficulties.

Adding that point to the further in-troduction to Project Manuals providedby this column, I’m hoping that you’rebeginning to see how much more con-trol the implementation of such a systemwill give you over your projects. It’s easy

to indicate that a ball valve,say, is requiredfor a certain function noted on a plan,but if you leave that single detail to thecontractor or subcontractor without fur-ther instruction, it is likely the productinstalled will be substandard, difficultto maintain or at best the cheapest avail-able option.

There are, for instance, several swing-check valves that cannot be maintainedand must instead be cut out and com-pletely replaced. In our specifications,weremove the wiggle room, take full con-trol of what can be used and make cer-tain we require use of check valves thatcan easily be maintained or serviced with-out ever touching the plumbing.

In that sense, our specification sheetshave become an approved product listthat we have researched and validated.I’ve made some mistakes in productselection in the past – mainly becauseI’ve taken leaps of faith and given newapproaches or technologies a try. Nowwe filter out that noise, using our doc-uments as an approved equipment/as-sembly list.

This isn’t to say we never use newproducts – far from it. It’s just that nownew products must prove themselvesbefore becoming part of our standardlist of recommended selections. In fact,what we’ve found is that specificationwriting done to follow CSI-formattedmethods requires research – sometimeslots of it.

That’s what makes these specificationsso valuable to us: By the time I’ve final-ized a particular specification or edited anexisting one, I am reasonably confidentin what I am recommending (“should”)compared to what I’m requiring (“shall”)and am assured that we’ll never picksomething knowing there’s a better alter-native. In other words,we choose the bestfor our clients, every time!

This in no way should be taken to im-ply that we use the same products or sys-tems on every job. Each project is differ-ent, and one thing we particularly likeabout the CSI approach is that our filecompletely documents the performancecriteria for competitive products.

In most of our projects, distinctionsin competitive equipment are small

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Go to www.watershapes.com/ads



Figure 1

FIGURE 1: Here’s a typical Valves section from one of our Project Manuals. If thissort of structure is followed, it allows for remarkable clarity in communication aboutproducts and their applications – and gives a designer far greater control of howa project will look and perform once complete.

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enough that their prices seldom vary bymore than a hundred dollars or so,meaning we don’t need to make firmrecommendations. Some projects, how-ever, will include specialized equipmentsuch as very large engineered pumps orcustomized, large-diameter sand filters– in which case a competitive bid processcould result in substantial savings. Inthe latter case, we may need to describe(in excruciating detail) all of the mate-rial and performance requirements ofthe equipment so that the contractor re-ally is deciding on cost and not on qual-ities that we’ve already defined in thespecifications.

We run into these competitive-bid sit-uations mostly in publicly funded pro-jects, or in instances in which the clientalready has certain products installed andwants us to stick with them so operatortraining is minimized and stocks of spareparts can be exploited. I think that’s agreat idea – with the sole caution beingthat,as the designer or architect/engineerof record, you’re ultimately responsiblefor the specifications and can’t just signoff on such a request without doing theresearch and at least recommendingchanges as necessary.

graphically speakingDrawings are, of course, the primary

vehicle for conveying graphic informa-tion, and specification writers are not inany way precluded from using them inProject Manuals. In fact, this can be agreat place to stockpile product images

september 2 00 9 watershapes • 3 1www.watershapes.com



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or specific drawings that will be valid forevery project in which these products orsystems are used. That said, I wouldn’twant to use any project-specific graphics

in this context; instead,I would use gener-ic images such as details highlighting thecode requirements for J-box heightsabove grade and maximum water levels.

Another great use of graphics in specsis for architectural items such as outdoorlighting. Here, the designer might set upa product specification for “Path Lighting”that includes, for example,photos of eachfixture identified with a label (PL1, PL2and so on) that matches the nomencla-ture used on the plans.

This enables the client to look at theplan and reference the specifications todetermine exactly what to expect. Also,these details are easily recycled from onejob to the next with little or no editing– and it all adds up to make the design-er look like a complete professional. It’seasy in this case to add a statement thatnot all fixture types will be used for theproject – a note that will allow the de-signer to reuse the specification with-out further edits.

Personally, I also like to use a lot of ta-bles in our specifications. It might justbe the engineer in me, but I find tablesuseful in so many ways that I can’t helpforcing certain data into a table whenev-er possible. Whatever it takes: My am-bition is to make these project documentsrepresent my best thoughts on whatshould happen on site – and use them tomake certain those who are doing the in-stallation work have every opportunityto follow my plans to the letter.



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WS

Dave Peterson is president of WatershapeConsulting of San Diego, Calif. He’s been partof the watershaping industry since 1994, start-ing his own firm in 2004 after stints with an aquat-ic-engineering firm and a manufacturer. A reg-istered civil engineer, he now supports otherwatershape professionals worldwide with de-sign, engineering and construction-manage-ment services and may be reached via his website, www.watershapeconsulting.com.

Resources:

The accompanying text is no more than anintroduction to the layers of detail built intoProject Manuals and the specifications theycontain. To learn more, you can take class-es and even pursue professional certificationas a specifications writer.

If you’re looking for basic information, you’llfind good references in the SectionFormat/PageFormat publication available from theConstruction Specifications Institute on itsWeb site, www.csinet.org. It’s available for afee of $60 to CSI members, $75 for non-members.

– D.P.


In this case,we were called upon to de-velop all of the exteriors for a home on atwo-acre lot in an affluent part of Austin.Better still, our work coincided with theconstruction of the home, so we wereable to coordinate with the architect, in-terior designer and builder early on inorder to value-engineer the constructionprocess and control costs effectively. Asyou’ll see here (and in a future article),our work offers an interesting perspec-tive on what it takes to orchestrate con-nections between landscape architectureand pool construction.

At this writing, the project is almostcomplete. In this article, we’ll coverthe design process and construction ofmajor exterior elements including sev-eral watershapes that serve as unifyingelements throughout the design. Oncethe plants and trees have settled in,we’ll revisit the site for a detailed pic-torial tour.

lthough it doesn’t always workout this way, the best-case scenario forus at Root Design (Austin, Texas) is toaccept full responsibility for all exteriorspaces of a given property, from the foot-print of the house out to the propertylines. In these situations, our team isable to establish designs with wall-to-wall continuity in response to the envi-ronment, the architecture and ourclient’s wishes.

We commit ourselves in these cir-cumstances to taking homeowners andtheir guests on a journey, starting themoment they enter the property andmoving all the way through to the yard’sfarthest reaches and all the spaces in be-tween. Along the way, they’ll enter a va-riety of small or large vignettes, conceal-and-reveal discoveries, dramatic focalpoints and multiple rewarding destina-tions – each conceptually linked as a co-herent “whole.”

Luxurywith a

Twist

AA

Root Design has always focused on developing environments

that delight, inspire and occasionally surprise clients, but the

project seen in this, the first of two articles, may well be the

company’s most elaborate to date. Here, Ben Dozier and Michael

Percy describe what went into designing and building across

the entire site, including the multiple watershapes that helped

transform this estate into an oasis filled with plants, light,

sounds and water.

By Ben Dozier

& Michael Percy

Rustic Grace

Our practice is largely guided by the ideathat good architecture is edited architec-ture. Our client, for example, had manyideas about what he wanted,starting witha central courtyard; a private spa off themaster bathroom;and a large swimmingpool he envisioned as a key feature in theproject. That was all good, but beyondthat outline our client allowed us to de-velop the overall program with completecreative freedom,allowing us to link eachelement through a series of exterior spaceswhile harmonizing everything.

His prerequisites, in other words,gaveus a promising start – and so did thework of the other designers on the pro-ject: The Hacienda-style building hadbeen perfectly sited on the lot, woventhrough stands of mature live oaksspread across a gently sloping topogra-phy. The architecture was to includeplentiful use of stone, large structuresmade of reclaimed beams, grand arch-ways, a barrel-tile roof and, best of all,open views to various outdoor spaces

being programmed around the site.The house is a true reflection of site con-

ditions, giving it the appearance of hav-ing always been there, and we knew thatevery design decision we’d make wouldbe focused on preserving and enhancingthe home’s connection to the land. Thiswas, in effect, the foundation of our de-sign and, ultimately, our driving forcethroughout the construction process.

As a key part of the conceptual designprocess, we generated a comprehensiveset of drawings that illustrated primaryexterior areas. All done by hand, thesesketches were used in conjunction withphotographs selected from our ownportfolio as well as fully credited imagesillustrating the work of others. In thisparticular case, all of the material wasorganized on “story boards” we sharedwith the client. We also assembled setsof images demonstrating our ability toblend architecture and landscape, blur-ring lines in such a way that you can’t tellwhere one begins and the other ends.

Throughout the presentation, therewas plenty of spirited collaboration withthe client, particularly when it came toour strategies for connecting the formaland functional with the historic and aged.When he’d taken in all of the sketches andbegan to perceive the overall program wewere advocating, the flood of questionsabout details fell away and the leap offaith was taken: In fact,he became so dis-tinctly excited that all he had to say, fi-nally, was “When can you get started?”

A Rewarding Journey

The site’s layout and the design of thehome lent themselves perfectly to creat-ing a sweep of visual action that wouldfully engage anyone visiting the proper-ty. Accordingly, we deliberately defineda sequence in which the visitor wouldconstantly be discovering new areas bymoving and being drawn through thespace,always with water serving as a uni-fying element.

Let’s set the scene: As you drive through


the large wooden gates at the edge of theproperty, you are led to a circular entrycourt. A formal stone pathway finishedwith native limestone then guides you tomassive,reclaimed-wood doors that seemto be the entrance to the house. The onlyhint that this might not be the case is asemicircular, ten-foot-diameter pondplaced to the right of the doors’ landing:Water seems to flow to it from under alow arch that penetrates the wall. Fromthis point,you also hear water flowing onthe other side of the wall – a definite spurto curiosity.

Opening the door,you find yourself agood 80 feet from the home’s main en-trance, which stands at the far end of alarge courtyard. The first few steps areunder an arched loggia, and to the rightis a long runnel, the source of the soundfirst heard from outside the doorway.

The courtyard is really the heart andsoul of the project: Designed aroundmature live oaks and completely en-closed on three sides by the house, the

space is recessed five feet below the build-ing’s floor level and is surrounded byoutdoor porches and living areas thatoverlook the courtyard on all sides. Ittruly is the social core of the design.

Absorbing all of this,you follow a lineparallel to the runnel, up the courtyardtoward the front door. Along the way,you discover that the runnel carries wa-ter from a central fountain to the pondoff the driveway.

The five-foot-dameter fountain is thecourtyard’s central waterfeature.Whencompleted, its basin will host aquaticplants that will add interest and colorto the setting, and the whole assemblywill be topped by a sculpture that’s be-ing hand-carved by sculptors in Mexico.(Although the surrounding area is spa-cious, we definitely didn’t want thefountain to take over, so we scaled itdown to make it both intimate andmore inviting.)

Beyond the water, the courtyard isplanted with a host of mostly broad-leafed

plants, including a range of palms in-tended to give the space a Mediterraneanor even a tropical ambiance – all very dif-ferent from what is typically seen in cen-tral Texas. We felt comfortable movingin this direction because the courtyard isso well sheltered by a light-filtering canopyof live oaks: As we saw it, injecting thisexotic flavor would be a key part of theoverall impression we wanted to make.

To get to the main entrance, you walkaround the back of the fountain, finallyreaching a set of steps that leads to a porch.By now,you have already experienced anencompassing sanctuary that simultane-ously feels luxurious and very private.


The architecture of the home gave ustremendous inspiration: The Hacienda-style composition was sited perfectly andused materials and details we knew wecould carry well beyond its walls in de-veloping exterior spaces. In presentingour ideas to the client, in fact, we spunoff the house in creating ‘story boards’that laid out our ideas in the form of draw-ings supplemented by photographs fromother projects showing our capabilities.

Viewing Through

In walking through the door, you im-mediately look right through the greatroom’s floor-to-ceiling windows andthrough arches out over a broad deckand the swimming pool, in effect leav-ing behind one area defined by waterand immediately getting an invitationto explore another.

The pool features a deck-level perime-ter-overflow detail: The rationale for thisthoroughly modern touch in an other-wise Old World design is the fact that wewanted to bring the water right up to thedeck’s grade, which is in turn dead levelwith the floor of the home’s interior spaces.As we saw it,doing so would increase boththe viewability and the reflectivity of thewater’s surface and make the whole scenemore immediate and dramatic.

Given all this, it’s no surprise that thepool was the subject of most of our dis-cussions with the homeowner. We hadoriginally submitted a design that wasfar simpler and more traditional,but webelieved so strongly in the more aggres-sive perimeter-overflow approach thatwe submitted it as well – then good-na-turedly (but quite directly) challengedthe owner to show some nerve and takethe riskier path.

Whatever was said,we have no regretsbecause it prompted him to step up andcommit himself to making a strongerimpression.

Much of the pool’s perimeter involvesa series of right angles flowing into slots,but to the left (from inside the home) isa beach entry with irregular,undulatingcontours. The decking (along with thebeach entry’s submerged surface) in-corporates a native limestone that re-ceived a “brush” finish, giving it a wornand aged appearance. (We also used thismaterial on most of the horizontal sur-faces around the property.)

The pool is 55 feet long (up to the wa-terline of the beach entry) and about24 feet across at its widest point. Themain deck area is off to the right –alongside the pool’s deep end and ad-jacent to its square spa.

The pool’s interior is finished in a darkpebble material that increases the water’sreflective qualities. The water spills overinto a half-inch slot, entering the gutter


The courtyard sets the tone for the entire pro-ject, serving as a social core of the home forthe family and their guests and guiding visitorson an extraordinarily peaceful journey from thefront gate to the entry door. As is the case withall of the main spaces of this project, wateris the key: A long runnel greets those who en-ter, and an appropriately scaled fountain drawsthem through to approach the front door.

system and ultimately flowing to thesurge tank. The heaters and the circu-lation system – including the pumps, fil-ters and controllers – all came from Jandy(Vista,Calif.). The water is treated usingan ORP-governed, in-line Rainbow Life-gard chlorine feeder (Pentair Water Pool& Spa, Sanford, N.C.) supplemented byan ozone-generating system from DELOzone (San Luis Obispo, Calif.). Thepool also has an in-floor cleaning system.

With eight pumps, four filters, twoheaters and a host of other components,the equipment pad became large enoughto justify the design and construction ofa structure to conceal it and knock downany noise it might generate. This becamea casita-style outbuilding that’s consis-tent with the architecture of the home.

As a side note: When we finished thepool, the owner was so pleased with theview that he had the builder knock outa portion of one of the home’s exteriorwalls to create an additional vantagepoint from inside the home. At thatpoint, we were fully confident that wehad completely nailed the pool design.

Upward Spiral

The most unusual and by far the mostdifficult element of the entire project isthe spiral retaining-wall system that ris-es above and serves to define the land-

scape configuration on the pool’s far side.As noted above with the perimeter-

overflow detail,we’d already met with suc-cess by challenging the homeowner tothink of being unique. In this case, wewent after both unique and breathtak-ing in pressing him to make this twistinghardscape feature the core of the backyardspace. Although it turned out beautiful-ly,it also reminded us to be careful in whatwe ask for,as this structure turned out tobe among the trickiest we’ve ever built.The shape was so difficult to achieve, infact, that we actually built it three times,tearing out the first two attempts.

As finally completed, the spiralingwalls rise above a small deck area just be-yond the pool. To the right side, a set ofsolid stone steps rise some six feet abovethe pool to a point behind the spiral’scenter. Water flows directly down thesesteps,originating with a narrow weir un-der the top step. On the left side of thetwisting structure (reaching out past thepool’s beach entry) is a dry stone path-way a visitor can use to reach the top ofthe spiral.

In structural terms, this feature servesas a retaining wall holding the slopeabove the pool in place. We made it us-ing concrete masonry units (CMUs) upto grade. Above that, the wall is madeof flat limestone pieces and is basically


hollow. The difficulty came in execut-ing the tight curves: It took extreme pa-tience and involved several days of frus-tration and headaches – but eventuallyit all worked out.

Keeping with the ziggurat theme, thespaces in the structure that aren’t devotedto the wetted stairs or the pathway willbe filled with multiple layers of plantsthat will cascade over the walls in a hang-ing-garden effect. All of these details areimportant,as the spiral stands dead cen-ter in the arch that defines the main viewfrom inside the house.

Climbing to the top of the spiral, thevisitor gains a 360-degree view of the en-tire backyard landscape, including theformal lawn stretching above the pool.At the highest point, we’ll eventually beplacing an 18-inch fire bowl – a featurethat will be seen from the house andmost surrounding areas.

Just as the courtyard is the defining el-ement in approaching to the home, thespiral serves as the hub of the entire back-yard. Filled with visual energy and build-ing a sweeping sense of motion, it en-gages the eye in a way that coaxes thevisitor to look around and absorb thepresence of water, plants, landscape ele-ments, decks and various surroundingstructures. The visitor atop the spiralalso sees the trees and plants that serveas a backdrop for the rest of the proper-ty. In that sense, the spiral form servesperfectly as both a means to encouragemovement and organize views.

As mentioned above, the area abovethe pool has been fashioned into a large,rectangular lawn area bound by low stonewalls. (The owner has a nine-year-oldson and wanted a broad space for playwith family and friends.) The lawn is tobe manicured to a fairway-like quality. At

one end,the low walls reach out as a semi-circle that eventually will host a largesculpture– another destination as the vis-itor ventures into spaces past the pool.

Beyond the Core

The lawn area is just one of severalbackyard “rooms”we established aroundthe core formed by the pool and the spi-ral structure.

Close by the water (to the right side asyou enter the space) is a stand of palmtrees that create a visual break betweenthe pool and the areas just beyond. Oneof those areas is an outdoor dining spacesurrounded by a nine-foot-tall stone walland a large arbor constructed of re-claimed stone and beams salvaged fromvarious buildings. In overall affect, thisoutdoor room gives the impression ofbeing the ruins of an older settlement,built long ago. The massive structureis softened with grape vines that weavearound the arbor’s rusted steel trellis.There’s also a table that seats 12,and thewhole area is illuminated at night by aset of custom-made chandeliers.

Located within the ruins is a massiveoutdoor fireplace. Flanked by a mature,transplanted olive tree and separatedfrom other spaces by a stone wall, thisroom is intended as an after-dinnerlounge – perfect for enjoying a snifter of

cognac under the stars in a fire-lit space.The wall, by the way, blocks the view ofareas stretching to the back corner of theproperty.

That blockage is deliberate,of course:What’s hidden back there is a recreationarea that includes a putting green anda half-court for basketball. The clientspecifically wanted these features,but healso saw them as visually unappealing,aurally disruptive and a departure fromthe rest of the design program. As a re-sult, he asked us to do whatever it tookto make them unobtrusive.

The fireplace area and its wall go a longway toward making them disappearfrom view on the right side of the prop-erty. But we also carefully studied thesight lines and set things up in such away that you can’t see the concrete of thebasketball court from the house or thepool area – the keys here being a sweep-ing row of rocks we dug out of theground on site and moved to a key lo-cation; a stand of olive trees that maskthe putting green and sand trap; and thenatural flow of the slope,which tends tohide that corner of the lot anyway.

It all works so well that you discoverthese recreational areas only by movingalong a stone path that runs along thatside of the property.

The farthest-removed part of the par-


When visitors enter the house, the firstthing they see is more water in the spacejust opposite the door in the form of a largeswimming pool that includes a shelteredspa as well as a beach entry. The visualkeys to this space are the sweeping curveson the far wall – and the spiraling structurethat rises above them.

cel – out directly beyond the lawn – is the project’s least struc-tured component. To reinforce that sense, we’ll be bringing innative grasses and other local species and making the spaceswe’ve organized give way to untamed nature at the margins. Anumber of live oaks provide a beautiful backdrop for this ef-fect, and we’ll cut winding trails through the area to encouragetraffic – rewarding visitors who wander so far by creating smalldestinations, perhaps with artwork and seating areas.

We are aware,of course,that from a design standpoint it makessense to let the outer reaches of large properties exist as “nat-ural”spaces. To be frank,however, treating these outer areas inan unstructured way enabled us to gain some ground on a bud-get consumed by the detailing of the courtyard,pool,spiral struc-ture, orchards and fireplace.

Moving Toward Completion

The informal,perimeter “veldt”will ultimately wrap around theentire back of the property and along its left side – up until it runsinto a wing of the house in which the master suite is located.

Just outside this bedroom,we’re establishing a private retreatthat includes a spa intended to appear as though it’s the out-flow of a natural spring. Along the way, we’ve often joked thatit’s the largest gunite spa ever built for two or four people: Theshell is quite large at fully 14 feet across: We needed this bulkto support the large boulders we’ll be using to create the springillusion. In fact, the actual seating area inside the spa will be nomore than six to seven feet across.

To enhance the natural-spring effect,we’re including a high-ly unusual detail in which water will flow gently into the spathrough gaps in the bases of the stones encircling the spa’s in-terior space. We’re working on this arrangement at this writ-ing, and it’s proving to be quite a challenge to create a natural-istic appearance and make the spa comfortably functional. Bythe time we’re done and everyone is satisfied, we’re confidentthis will be one of the most unusual inground spas anywhere.

To ensure privacy, the spa area will be enclosed by an eight-foot wall fitted with a wooden gate that will allow access fromthe yard. We will be taking advantage of the humidity gener-ated by the spa to fill the space with delicate tropical plants, in-cluding several species of orchids.

In this particular area and in the grander space, there was acollaborative effort between ourselves and the client in work-ing in detail with a range of additional tradespeople, includingthe landscape lighting artist, the crew that installed the mos-quito-repelling system, the ornamental-vessel craftspeople, thewonderful ironworkers and furniture fabricators, the irrigationspecialists and an outdoor-sound-system installer. All of themjoined us in fulfilling the overarching design philosophy.

By the time we’re through, we figure there will be hundredsof fixtures of all kinds in place to mark paths and stairs, createmoonlight effects and cast beautiful music throughout socialspaces. And we’re still in the process of commissioning art-works to add final touches to some of the corners we’ve des-ignated throughout the gardens.

Designing and constructing of all this has been a huge un-dertaking, and we’re not finished yet – but we’re moving for-


ward confident in all of the major design elements we’ll be fol-lowing through to conclusion.

At this point,we’re satisfied that not only have we pushed ourown creative boundaries, but that we also have done so whilehonoring the space, the architecture and our client’s desires. Indoing so, we have given him the confidence he’s occasionallyneeded to step outside the box. His enthusiasm has been un-bounded and fills us with a fire that drives us to do everythingin our power to make him even happier.

As is often the case in projects of this sort, we are all lookingforward to an evening gathering during which we will enjoythe setting as it’s been meant to be experienced. It might just bean appropriate time to enjoy a drink – with, of course, a twist!


We developed the property from the footprint of the house out to itsperimeter boundaries, so we were involved in much more than thetwo main watershapes depicted previously on these pages. Theequipment pad (A), for example, will ultimately be housed in a ca-sita-style outbuilding; the spiral structure rising above the pool (Band C) will retain the soil above the pool while providing the coreimage for the backyard; the dining area and fireplace (D) will sug-gest ruins of a much older structure that had been on the propertyforever; and, finally, a private spa off the master bedroom (E andF) will to give the impression of being fed by an ancient natural spring– wall-to-wall details that define this amazingly intricate project.

A

B

C


D E

F


In the world of concrete science and ap-plication, innumerable variables have aninfluence on whether a concrete installa-tion is successful or not. These include butare not limited to the skill of the applica-tor, the suitability of the mix design, thetemperature at the time of application,theequipment used,the water-to-cement ra-tio and the size of the aggregate.

For all the seeming complexity, how-ever, the nature of the material itself in-vests the process with a few immovablefacts. One of these directly underminesthe swimming pool industry’s “standard”that calls for a compression strength of2,500 pounds per square inch for pneu-matically placed concrete (that is,guniteor shotcrete). It’s not because the stan-dard is inadequate per se; rather, it’s be-cause it is virtually impossible,with prop-er application, to produce a gunite orshotcrete structure at such a low level!

If that comes as a surprise to you,readon: To explain why no such thing as2,500-psi pneumatically placed concrete

exists, we first need to examine the na-ture of concrete and then take a look atthe developmental history of the guniteand shotcrete processes.

Through the PumpThe main reason behind the impos-

sibility of 2,500 psi gunite or shotcretehas to do with the velocity at which thematerial is applied. As it moves past thenozzle, the concrete strikes the substratewith such force that it is inevitably com-pacted – meaning it will always havegreater strength than you can achieve us-ing cast-in-place methods.

So regardless of the mix design, the re-sulting structure’s density (or compres-sive strength) will be at least 4,000 psi inthe shotcrete (wet) process and evengreater with the gunite (dry) process.Without significant errors in application(to be discussed below),you simply can-not avoid producing shells with com-pressive strength far exceeding 2,500 psi– which means the industry standard

is essentially meaningless.Moving past that observation,let’s look

at some other concrete fundamentals.First of all, it’s helpful to know that the

terms “gunite” and “shotcrete” are es-sentially verbs rather than nouns,and re-fer to processes and actions rather thanto results. The stuff that constitutes theshell of a swimming pool or spa or foun-tain, in other words, is not gunite or shot-crete but is, in fact,simply concrete – con-crete placed pneumatically at high velocity,to be more exact.

The nature of these application meth-ods has a direct effect on the mix designof the concrete. If you’re pouring a foot-ing for a home or a column for a build-ing, for example, standard practice dic-tates use of a fairly coarse aggregate in inchor inch-and-a-half dimensions. With thegunite or shotcrete method, by contrast,the material has to move through a hoseand nozzle, which means you mustdownsize the aggregate considerably andincrease the amount of sand in the mix

ElevatedThe

GameMaterials scientist and concrete expert GeorgeYoggy has studied the shotcrete and guniteprocesses for more than 50 years, focusing notonly on tunnel and mine construction but also turn-ing his eye toward watershapes. Here, he reviewsindustry standards for the density, strength andpermeability of pneumatically placed concreteshells and urges watershapers to step up andadopt standards and practices followed by othersin the concrete industry.

By George Yoggy


to make it flow properly.By definition, concrete is a combi-

nation of coarse and fine aggregatescoated and bound together by cementpaste. By decreasing the size of the ag-gregate, you effectively increase the sur-face area of the aggregate and therebyincrease the requisite amount of ce-ment. In other words, the amount ofcement required in the mix is deter-mined by aggregate size and the ag-gregate’s resulting surface area.

For comparison, if you were prepar-ing for a cast-in-place application usinginch to inch-and-a-half aggregate, theproduction of a cubic yard of concretewould require inclusion of 500 to 550pounds of cement. If you were to down-size the aggregate to three-eighths of aninch (as is generally found in gunite andshotcrete applications), that same cubicyard of concrete would have to include650 to 750 pounds of cement in the mixto accommodate the greater surface area.These differences in aggregate size and

maining spaces.The same principles apply with con-

crete,and that’s true even with the smallstarting aggregates used with gunite andshotcrete, although filling these voidsmeans using greater amounts of fine ag-gregate (sand) and more cement to en-sure that there will be enough cementpaste to cover the increased surface areaof the smaller aggregate. The upshotof this manipulation of the mix is in-creased density – and, therefore, higherlevels of compressive strength with gu-nite and shotcrete.

When you combine all of this, it’s easyto see why people who work with guniteand shotcrete in constructing mines andtunnels scratch their heads when theysee that the pool industry has pegged itsstandard at 2,500 psi and are forced towonder further if watershapers have anyclear sense of the nature of the materi-als and processes they’re using.

Yes,you can achieve that low,2,500-psilevel of compressive strength using cast-

cement content will, all other things be-ing equal, result in stronger concrete inthe latter case than you could achieve inthe former.

And if you combine smaller aggregateand more cement with the velocity men-tioned above, the product will inevitablyexceed a compressive-strength level of4,000 psi.

Filling VoidsLet’s paint this picture with a bit more

detail, starting with the fact that the ag-gregate in concrete generally constitutesabout 65 percent of the mix. The key be-yond that is use of material that fills thevoids so the finished product is solid.

Consider a jar filled with rocks: A rel-atively small number of larger rocks willfill the jar to capacity, but this leavessubstantial voids. To fill them, you addsmaller rocks that fill in much of theempty space, then add sand to fill theeven smaller voids. Finally, you add wa-ter, which fills the tiniest of the re-

are jobs that must be done right – firsttime, every time.

Backing UpLet’s put all of this information in a

grander historical context to under-stand where misunderstandings aboutthe nature of gunite and shotcretemight have emerged.

Briefly, the “cement gun”was invent-ed in 1909 by Carl Akeley (who, by theway, also invented the movie camera).He was working at the Chicago Museumof Natural History, patching and mod-eling prehistoric animals, and was frus-trated by the constant need to preparefresh batches of plaster and Portland ce-ment, much of which went to waste be-fore he could use it.

An inventive sort, he noted the needfor a ready flow and supply of cemen-titious material and developed a systemin which dry cement mix was containedin a pressurized container. He attached


in-place concrete, but to do so with thegunite or shotcrete methods, you wouldhave to torture the process with improp-er practices to get there – perhaps by mis-handling mix times relative to tempera-ture or repositioning the concrete onceit’s been placed or using rebound (withthe latter two possibilities technicallymeaning that the concrete is no longer“pneumatically placed”) or engaging inany of a host of other possible abuses.

The point is, if you manage to pro-duce pneumatically placed concrete thathas a compression strength of less than4,000 psi, by definition it must be con-sidered substandard because somethinghad to have gone terribly wrong to pro-duce such a result.

I believe that this has flown under theradar for so long because, compared toother applications, the preparation ofshells for watershapes is not critical inconstruction terms. With an averagepool,even 2,500 psi concrete that is coat-

ed with plaster and filled with water willbe strong enough to hold that water inplace and resist most ground forces. Theproof of the pudding is the fact that mostpools do not fail.

That said, however, if the water tablechanges or the plaster fails or there aresoil conditions that create dramaticmovement or differential settlement, itmay very well prove to be the case that asubstandard concrete product will be en-tirely inadequate. And at a time whenincreasing numbers of vessels have moredaring shapes and performance features(including perimeter overflows and van-ishing edges), the resulting structuralvariables make the strength of the con-crete a more critical factor in the prod-uct’s ability to withstand the tests of time.

In other words, as the watershapingindustry elevates the artistry and tech-nical sophistication of its designs, theissue of proper application becomes farmore important. The plain fact is, these

a hose and developed a nozzle assemblythat had the ability to add a measuredflow of water to the mix as it exited thenozzle. Along the way,he discovered thathe created a superior product by addingsand – and the rest is history.

Before too long, Akeley’s inventionwas commercialized by the Cement GunCo. of Allentown, Pa., which marketedthe system as Gunite. After extensive test-ing and product development, it was de-termined that the ideal velocity for theprocess was between 350 and 400 feetper second – a standard applied to thisday and one always recognized as a crit-ical factor in the strength and qualityof the finished product.

For the next 20 years,Akeley’s system

met with amazing success and rapid ac-ceptance, and it wasn’t long before aswimming pool was constructed usingthe Gunite process.

That happened in 1932 at Lehigh Val-ley Country Club in Allentown, whichmade sense because the owners of theCement Gun Co.were club members. Itwas an experiment, but from the startthey knew pools and pneumaticallyplaced concrete were a perfect match –and the modern pool construction in-dustry was born.

Fast forwarding to 1962, the countryclub decided to update the pool with anew plaster surface as well as some newskimmers and light niches. They hireda contractor who, after a day or two of

chipping at the old concrete, went backto the club’s board of directors and askedfor financial relief because the shell wasso hard that he was going through drillbits and bull points at such a pace thathe knew he’d lose money on the job.

This was no surprise to the folks at theCement Gun Co.,who had learned a lotabout their product in the interveningyears and had done a great deal to stan-dardize its use. Indeed, their work rests,to this day, at the core of standards rec-ognized and maintained by the AmericanConcrete Institute (ACI) as well as theAmerican Society of Testing & Materials(ASTM).

I might add that nowhere in that vastbody of knowledge will you find any ref-


This 1949 publication from The Cement Gun Co. recalls the earliest known use of gunite in theconstruction of a swimming pool as far back as 1936 in Allentown, Pa.

erence to 2,500-psi pneumatically placedconcrete. In fact, studies dating to 1915show conclusively that, when deliveredat velocities of 350 to 400 feet per sec-ond, properly mixed and hydrated gu-nite is superior to cast-in-place concretein bondability,density,permeability andcompressive strength. Straight throughthe 1950s, it was generally recognizedthat pools built using the Gunite processwere of the highest available quality andstructural strength.

Rapid ExpansionThe tide began to turn as early as 1952,

when the contracting division of theCement Gun Co. went out of businessand the parent company concurred withACI’s recommendation that it shouldcede its exclusive control of the Guniteprocess and open it to the industry. Atthat point, small-g gunite came on thescene.

At that time, the modern Americansuburb was emerging – and swimmingpools were becoming an increasingly

popular addition to single-family homes.With that expanding business base, nu-merous swimming pool contractors en-tered the marketplace, pioneered theconcept of the middle-class swimmingpool and pulled a new generation of gu-nite-application companies into the mix.

Without the licensing authority of theCement Gun Co. to guide this develop-ment and train application crews as it hadin the past, however, the gunite businessbecame less disciplined and more incon-sistent with respect to product quality.That gradual decline never happened incritical applications, because work on

mines, highways and tunnels necessitat-ed pursuit of very high sets of standards.Where pools were concerned, however,that same necessity did not apply and, inmany quarters, a fundamental under-standing of both the gunite process andproduct were lost.

Even so,gunite dominated in the poolindustry straight through the 1960s andinto the ’70s. That situation beganchanging by 1972, with the advent ofthe concrete pump and the develop-ment of the “wet”or “shotcrete”process,which really took hold in the pool mar-ket late in the 1970s.


Proper use of either the gunite or shotcrete processes

flows from a well-established body of knowledge

based on years of experience in applications in

which the success of projects is a matter of life or

death, not of guesswork or old habits.

Today, the shotcrete process is con-sidered by many to be superior to thegunite process as a result of the consis-tency and reliability of batch mixes com-pared to the street mixing used in thegunite process. Truth is, during shot-crete’s early years, the product wentthrough some difficult growth stages.

Mostly, these issues had to do with at-tempts to increase the pumpability ofmaterial: Early applicators had troublecontrolling (and even holding onto) thehoses, so velocities and hose sizes bothbegan to shrink. The result before longwas that applicators weren’t so muchcompacting concrete as they were simplystacking it – a situation that was eventu-ally and thoroughly rectified with im-provements to shotcrete rigs and equip-ment but led to development of somebad habits along the way.

At the same time,market pressures ledto some changes in the mix that result-ed in production of weaker concrete, allin the name of minimizing costs. Duringthe 1980s and into the ’90s, it was alsocommon to encounter problems withconcrete staying in mixers too long; withtoo much water being added; with theuse of rebound; and, in some situations,with the addition of detergent admix-tures to ease pumping. All of these fac-tors conspired to result in terribly com-promised concrete products.

This unsteadiness in the face of achanging marketplace is, I believe, whatled to the odd notion that 2,500 psistrength was acceptable,even though thepractices that had led to that assump-tion were completely substandard.

None of this, I might add,ever alteredthe fact that proper mix designs and ap-plication velocities were resulting incompressive strengths of 4,000 psi or bet-ter: The truth is that watershaping ap-plications simply haven’t been classed ascritical in the concrete industry andtherefore attracted little technical atten-tion – a situation that has changed in re-cent years with the development of moreadvanced and intricate designs.

The Right StuffAs I see it, the watershaping industry

can easily catch up and get back ontrack with the rest of the concrete-us-

ing industries with a simple, directprocess of education.

Training for concrete application,for ex-ample, already exists in the programs ofthe American Concrete Institute, theAmerican Shotcrete Association and thePortland Cement Association. The spe-cifics of proper concrete application – thatis,what’s involved in rising to ACI,ASA orPCA standards – are not terribly complex,but they do require basic training.

What has happened through years inwhich outright product failures were rareis, in my opinion, that watershapers hadlatched onto the idea that common prac-tice informally handed down throughthe years was sufficient in getting the jobdone. While that may arguably havebeen adequate practice at one point in

time, it is increasingly less defensible: It’stime to step up and get acquainted withhow things should be done rather thanhow they’ve been done in the past.

There are no secrets or scientific mys-teries at work here: Proper use of eitherthe gunite or shotcrete processes flowsfrom a well-established body of know-ledge based on years of experience in ap-plications in which the success of pro-jects is a matter of life or death, not ofguesswork or old habits.

I applaud those in the watershapingindustry who’ve started a critical evalu-ation of the way things are done and havechanged their application processes toconform to the concrete industry’s stan-dards. It’s the practical thing to do – andthe right one as well.


The Permeability Debate

Beyond the increasing creativity of watershape designs, another issue that is pulling thewatershaping industry back into the fold of the greater concrete industry is a growingset of discussions about permeability and the level to which pneumatically applied con-crete – whether gunite or shotcrete – should or can be classed as permeable, slightlypermeable or impermeable.

We can all accept the thought that pools, spas, fountains and other bodies of recreationaland decorative water should be able to contain water. What many people also accept –erroneously – is that pneumatically placed concrete is, by nature, permeable. That is so onlyin an environment in which substandard application practices are acceptable.

In fact, the permeability of pneumatically placed concrete structures is a non-issue: Whenyou use a proper mix design and combine it with proper application methods, the result-ing 4,000 psi (or greater) material is classed as having low permeability – meaning thateven without a lining in the form of plaster or an exposed-aggregate finish, the shell itselfshould hold water.

What many contractors fail to realize is that the “business end” of the concrete is the sidethat comes in contact with the soil: This is the surface exposed directly to groundwaterwith no more than density to prevent intrusion of a sort that can corrode reinforcing steel.When the concrete is less permeable, it protects the structure’s integrity; conversely, if theshell is more permeable, it’s at far greater risk of failure.

In assessing the permeability of concrete, scientists measure the passage of chloride ionsthat travel with water as it enters the material. Just as the compressive strength of properlyapplied pneumatic concrete is a well-established scientific fact, so, too, is the permeability ofconcrete. In this there is no dispute: 4,000 psi concrete has low permeability and, with prop-er concrete coverage of reinforcing steel, will protect itself from intrusion of potentially corro-sive groundwater.

It all adds up to a simple picture: With proper compression resulting from proper mix-ing and use of proper application techniques, pneumatically applied concrete is virtuallyfree of voids, has low permeability and will withstand the tests of time.

– G.Y.

It’s not his daily practice to install

watershapes in conjunction with

computer-controlled telescopes, but

that’s just what Jim Wilder had to

do in creating a reflecting pool to

surround a towering pyramid atop

which an observatory now sits.

Through close collaboration with

what can best be described as a

‘stellar’ project team, he and his

colleagues developed a design so-

lution that stands among the most

unusual Wilder has ever seen for a

residential project.

��

Eyes on the Skies

�

5 0 • watershapes september 2 00 9

september 2 00 9 watershapes • 51

mong the wonderful benefits ofworking in the custom watershap-

ing business is that you never really knowwhat sort of projects will wander into view.

Through the years,we at Living WaterCreations of Santa Rosa,Calif.,have cer-tainly participated in developing and ex-ecuting some unusual designs,but I canhonestly say that working on one thatincluded a huge,beautiful steel pyramidtopped by a deep-space telescope wassomething that had yet to come our way.

And it would have stayed that way hadI not received a call from John Andersonof Pools by Rapp, another firm here inSanta Rosa. We’ve collaborated on oth-er projects in which our firm has builtponds or fountains to go along withpools and spas he’s done. In this case,hewas installing a lap pool and wanted ourhelp in what he could only describe asan extremely unusual watershape.

The client was in the process of build-ing a beautiful contemporary home and,as an astronomy buff, wanted to com-plete the package with an observatoryhe could call his own. The kicker: Theobservatory would be housed in a pyra-mid that was to “float” atop a big re-flecting pool.

The Lay of the LandThe setting had been untouched be-

fore the owner purchased four acres ofgently sloping land just outside Sonoma,Calif., near the heart of the state’s leg-endary wine country. Gorgeous even inan area renowned for its sweeping, bu-colic landscapes, the property includesa natural stream.

The amazing home ingeniously blendscontemporary and Mediterranean ele-ments using glass,concrete and Cor-Ten

�A By Jim Wilder

steel. (Cor-Ten is a carbon steel that rustsjust on the surface: The thin layer of rustprotects the underlying steel from rust-ing as well.) The house features a can-tilevered roof corner that called for useof #18 rebar (with a diameter of 2-1/8inches) to support it. Around the home,the landscape architect had distributed36 specimen olive trees that had beenmoved onto the site.

We were called in to design and installthe equipment and containment systemfor an 80-by-60-foot, 16-inch-deep re-flecting pool that was to surround apyramid-shaped observatory at the topof which was to be mounted a dome fora telescope. The landscape design wasdeveloped by Andrea Cochran (AndreaCochran Landscape Architecture, SanFrancisco),while STUDIOS architecture(San Francisco) took care of the pyra-mid/observatory structure,which mea-sures 20 feet square at the base and ris-es up 35 feet.

The sides of the pyramid and the raisedwalls of the pool were both to be madewith Cor-Ten steel to echo materials used


Once the raised steel wall of the pool was fully assembled into a solid (and very heavy) unit,we used I-beams, chains and jacks to lift it about six inches above its footing to allow for in-sertion of the liner.

in the house, the front of which offersviews of this most unusual outbuilding.The water was also to interface on twosides of the pyramid with concrete walk-ways leading to the structure – and onthe third side with a landing situated atthe bottom of the staircase leading up tothe observatory.

In our conversations with the client,he told us he wanted the reflecting pondto be as still as we could possibly makeit – no moving water, no sound, just abeautiful, glassy, uninterrupted reflec-tive surface that would capture the formof the pyramid. So our job was not onlyto figure out how to build the vessel tomake it hold water, but also to have itrecirculate without seeming to do so.

The main challenge, as we saw it, wassealing the liner where it met up with theCor-Ten perimeter: The three-quarters-of-an-inch-thick wall panels, for exam-ple, are L-shaped with eight-inch foot-ings, heights of 18 inches and outerdimensions of 80 by 60 feet. The big ques-tion: How could we weld together all thesections of this Cor-Ten perimeter with-out damaging the liner beneath them?

My first call for support was to myfriends at New World Manufacturing(Cloverdale, Calif.): We have workedtogether on numerous koi ponds, re-tention ponds and various other water-features, and they recommended use ofa Hyperlon liner because it is both ex-tremely durable and most receptive tobeing seamed in the field.

Collaborative ArtistryAfter much discussion, we decided to

have the sections of perimeter weldedtogether on their concrete footings be-fore installing the liner. The bases ofthese steel sections were penetrated bystainless steel all-thread we’d imbeddedin the concrete at one-foot intervals.Atop the concrete,we placed a six-inch-


With the walls back in place, we went througha reasonably straightforward (but laborious)process of piecing the rest of the liner systemtogether. A heat-seaming unit took care of thebulk of the work, but a fair amount of detail-ing was also required to take care of variouspenetrations.

wide ribbon of Cor-Ten,arranging things so the liner would besandwiched between two perfectly flat surfaces.

Once all of the sections were in place and had been weldedinto a single, massive unit weighing approximately 15,000pounds, we used a network of I-beams, chains and hydraulicjacks to raise the Cor-Ten structure six inches above the foot-ings. To protect the liner, we put down a layer of filter cloth ofthe sort often used in French drains over the footing. We thendraped five-foot-wide strips of the liner over the footing aftercarefully cutting holes for each anchor bolt.

Once all of this was in place and before the Cor-Ten struc-ture was lowered back into place, we applied two beads ofBentonite-infused caulk atop the liner to receive the steel.

We had also placed pieces of the liner beyond where the con-crete walkways and stairway supports were to go. Once theconcrete had been poured and the forms stripped from thesedetails, we applied a protective layer of filter cloth under theentire area and then were ready to start installing the rest ofthe lining – draping liner material across the floor of the re-flecting pool, heat seaming as we went. Around the pyramid’sbase, we had to do a great deal of cutting and pasting, whichwas quite similar to what happens in installing linoleum floorsin kitchens.

We lifted pieces of the liner up above the waterline around thepyramid and attached them to its base with bolts at one-foot in-tervals. The steel contractor then tucked finishing panels of Cor-Ten steel under the slanted wall overhang and over the liner,effectively hiding it from view. After installing our drain grates,we then partially filled the pool with water, looking for leaks.

As luck would have it, the steel contractor’s labor in wrestlingwith the L-shaped flashing at the base of the pyramid ended uppenetrating the liner in three places. We removed the flashing,repaired the leaks and everything was good to go.

Smooth FlowBacking up a bit,before we installed the liner system,we’d al-

ready dug trenches for the plumbing,which included six drains,eight floor returns and four skimmers (one in each corner ofthe pool). There was no way to create skimmer niches withoutthoroughly disrupting the appearance of the Cor-Ten wall struc-ture,so we installed niche-free black skimmers that rose 14 inch-es from the floor. (At first we tried to paint them to matchthe color of the rusted steel, but that didn’t work and we end-ed up leaving them black.)

All of the drains and returns were balanced hydraulicallyby plumbing them in pairs using tees. In turn, each of thesepairs was plumbed to another set of tees outside the perimeterof the pool, where we installed three-way valves (Jandy, Vista,Calif.) that allowed us to fine-tune the flow to achieve perfectbalance.

We fitted all drains and returns with anti-vortex lids (PentairWater Pool & Spa, Sanford, N.C.) to eliminate any possibilityof generating eddies that would disrupt the glassy surface of the


Once the liner was fully in place, we filled the basin with smooth stonesand then water-tested the system. After we dealt with a few leaks thatdeveloped in the installation process, the system was ready to go.

water. We also designed the plumbingsystem to operate at an extremely slowflow rate of four feet per second. Whenwe finished, the only place where a slightsurface movement could be detected wasnear the skimmers – but it was subtleenough that the owner was satisfied thatwe had met the goal of motionless flowhe’d set for us.

The equipment pad is relatively sim-ple and sits about 100 feet from the pool.We installed a Sta-Rite two-horsepowerpump and a Sta-Rite System 3 cartridgefilter along with a Rainbow Lifegardtrichlor erosion feeder (all from PentairWater Pool & Spa) to keep the water clearand polished. We also set up the timersso the system,with its six-hour turnoverrate, would operate only at night.

From start to finish, this entire projectwas about teamwork. I only spoke di-rectly with the client a few times,but therewere innumerable meetings and con-versations with other team members,mostly aimed at developing the best pos-sible solutions to the sorts of challengesdescribed above. In fact, that flow of in-formation was so steady and intense thatI cannot honestly say who was responsi-ble for the various ideas we put into play.

The result of all of this collaborativeeffort is one of the most unusual water-shapes any of us who worked on the pro-ject has ever seen. The reflecting pooland its pyramid create a spectacularcomposition in metal, stone and reflec-tive water that is truly stunning – the per-fect place, the client seems to agree, fora wondrous bit of stargazing.


The results of this painstaking installation process are nothing short ofamazing: The pyramidal observatory itself is a work of art, and the still-ness of the water at its base creates extraordinary reflections day and night.

y now,the thought that watershape and landscapedesigners need to study nature if they want to replicate it in theirprojects is basically a cliché. Truly, if you want to mimic naturesuccessfully, you must first know it intimately.

What many miss in all this, I believe, is a deeper level of“know-ing”that goes well beyond simply observing nature as a sourceof techniques and ideas. Frankly, I think that as designers andas human beings, we are much better off when we also learnhow to become nature – by which I mean letting the sights,sounds and smells draw us physically into the place.

In doing so,we engage in experiences so profound that the merementioning of that place will set us off with memories we willshare enthusiastically – or can use as parts of our latest projects.

No matter how often I visit natural places, I’m always amazed

at the interactions that take place among the basic elementsof water, stone, soil, plants, sunlight and wind. I know I willnever be able to comprehend all of the complexities and nu-ances that have gone into shaping what I’m seeing, but by wit-nessing these places and reveling in these experiences, I comeaway with a greater, more intuitive understanding of the dy-namics of the natural world and have, I trust, better preparedmyself to approximate its features in my own work.

In my case, I seek these experiences with regular visits to na-tional parks. It’s easy where I live in the western United States:Some of the most spectacular environments on the planet arebeing preserved here within easy driving distance. For years,I’ve seen these places as being among the most valuable assetswe designers have – an awesome embarrassment of riches foranyone who values the natural world.

In this pictorial feature, I’ll demonstrate what I mean by shar-ing my perspectives on just four of these magnificent places:Yosemite,Zion,Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon. Each in itsown way,these parks offer any visitor treasure troves of beauty andinspiration. And for those of us who are also designers, they of-fer invaluable lessons in the ways water sculpts the land.

National Wonders

As is true of many of his fellow watershape and landscape artists, Rick

Driemeyer is also an avid explorer of nature. For years, in fact, he’s made a

practice of regularly visiting wilderness areas for both professional inspira-

tion as well as pure enjoyment – a perfect pairing, as he sees it. To press that

point here in a big way, he shares what he’s encountered in hiking through

four of the most spectacular national parks in the western United States.

B By Rick Driemeyer



osemiteYEstablished in 1890,Yosemite National Park covers morethan 700,000 acres – about 1,000 square miles – in the moun-tains of east-central California. Famous for its biodiversity,trees,geology,abundant waterfalls and crystalline streams, itsbeauty has inspired artists for generations.

I’ve visited Yosemite regularly for more than 30 years now,starting when I first moved to California. Nowadays, I gothere at least once a year, encouraged by the fact that there’salways much more to see. Indeed, it’s one of those places youcould visit monthly (or even weekly) and still keep discover-ing new vistas.

Yosemite was formed by a glacier in the last Ice Age. It con-sists mainly of a massive U-shaped valley with cliffs soaringabove forested slopes and the valley floor. When you first reachthe core of the park,you’re stunned by its sheer grandeur,evenif you’ve prepared yourself by looking at photographs: Yousimply can’t anticipate the scale and drama of the place un-til you see it firsthand. (The same is true of all four of theseparks, so I’ll make this point here once and for all.)

Everywhere you look,the scenery is defined by the presenceof water. One of my all-time favorite Yosemite hikes is theMist Trail, which follows the water pathway leading to theVernal and Nevada falls. All along this trail, you see evidenceof water’s work: boulders cleaved by ice; gravel tumbled intoshape by spring runoff; tree roots exposed by brisk flows; andfallen trees that have changed the course of the river. Thereare also small alcoves with moss growing on the granite rooffrom which small,perfect droplets of water that have traveledthrough the rock for years finally form and drip – a processI reproduced on a boulder in a teahouse project of mine.

The specific “lessons” to be taken away from a single hikeof that sort could become an article many times the lengthof this discussion. Indeed, an examination of the forces oferosion alone would do that: how the water naturally breaksdown the landscape,exposes parts of subsurface formations,creates various types of cascades,waterfalls,pools and streamsand weaves together an infinite tapestry of sight and sound.If you also consider the juxtaposition of materials, colors andtextures, the experience can readily be translated into designsof all types – not just the naturalistic ones.

I’ve been there when there were roaring torrents at every turnand then returned months later to find dry streambeds. Bothextremes are useful: You can witness the aesthetic variationscreated simply by the volume and velocity of moving water –or you can study the stone structures that water creates and feelits presence even when it’s not there.

Most visitors to the park are satisfied to be blown away byviews from a distance,but I recommend getting right up closeto examine the interactions of stone and plants,stone and wa-ter, water and plants and, occasionally, of all of them with theanimals that live in the park. If there’s any space on the plan-et that holds up under that sort of close scrutiny, it’s Yosemite– quite simply one of the most spectacular places I’ve ever seen.

www.watershapes.com

ionZSet in southeastern Utah on the northeastern edge of thevast Mojave Desert, Zion National Park was established in1909 largely to preserve the homeland of the Anasazi tribe ofNative Americans. It’s a relatively small national park at just229 square miles, but that’s enough to encompass ZionCanyon and the north fork of the Virgin River.

In terms of its influence on the art of watershape and land-scape design, Zion may well be one of most dramatic exam-ples of unfolding surprises that you’ll ever see. To get there,you drive across seemingly interminable miles of flat grass-land – a barren wasteland that is the antithesis of beautifuland remarkable. You then enter the park through an im-pressively long tunnel, emerging into the midst of an oasisdefined by huge rock formations,evergreens, ferns and scoresof different flowering plants.

Whatever Zion lacks in scale or pure grandeur, it makesup for with endless subtlety and constant revelation. As isthe case with Yosemite, Zion is a complex study in stone,plants and water, but it draws added significance from a fas-cinating layering of visual features. In particular, Zion in-cludes some of the most interesting erosion patterns I’ve everseen anywhere.

One of the easiest hikes in the park leads you to a placeknown as Fern Grotto,which is completely hidden until youwalk into it. This beautiful space includes sheer cliff facesthrough which water seeps to create a spectacular pond. Asthe name implies, the entire scene is defined by thick fernsthat drape across the rocks as a natural hanging garden. Whensunlight filters through the ferns, you experience visual ex-plosions in vibrant, deeply soothing green.

The entire park is a treat, but this one enclave is a perfectexample of how your emotions and perception of a greaterspace around you can be instantly transformed by entering acompact,comprehensible space where the sights and soundsof water and plants infuse the landscape with intensity, vol-ume, scope and life. And there’s much more, because Zionoffers other surprising spaces at almost every turn


Knowing Destinations

In my visits to the four parks under discussion in the accompanying text (and countless oth-ers), the idea I’ve had most profoundly reinforced is that human beings are fundamentallyat their happiest when they participate with nature.

By extension, when we as watershapers and landscape designers set a scene small or large,we are creating places where people get involved with their surroundings – and that’s true whetherthe scene is the most naturalistic or most architectural. We are in the business of creating spaceswhere people experience life: where they rest, where they exercise, where they break bread withfriends and family, where they grow, where they grieve, where they pray, where they socialize,where they formulate ideas about their future and where they sometimes make love and maybeeven die.

We create venues of human experience, and that’s a huge responsibility. This is why weshould all visit our national parks, because in these places, we see the most dramatic exam-ples of “place” to be found anywhere and are also occasionally in position to see how otherhuman beings respond to and interact with them.

Atop and maybe beyond all that high-mindedness, there’s also the fact that exploring theseparks is just plain fun. To me, these are absolutely the best places to vacation with loved onesand share experiences with them you’ll all remember for the rest of your lives. These are, inshort, wonderful places to rejuvenate your body, mind and spirit.

And if you come home with an idea or two that will come in handy the next time you sitdown to design a space where people will spend part of their lives, well, so much the better!

– R.D.


www.watershapes.com

ryceCanyonB

Bryce Canyon National Park is another treasure of south-western Utah, and although it’s just 50 miles from Zion, itmight as well be on a different planet. Established in 1924,the park covers just the 56 square miles atop the PaunsaugantPlateau – and the star of the show is a sloping semi-circle de-fined by hoodoos, one of the most unusual rock formationsfound anywhere in the world.

With respect to direct design lessons to be learned in na-tional parks, Bryce Canyon offers the least of any of the fourparks covered by this discussion. In my estimation, however,it’s just as worthy of a visit as the other three simply becauseit is so strange – and so uniquely beautiful.

Rising to 9,000 feet at its summit, the area is sparse in plantmaterial beyond a few pine groves,and there isn’t much openwater to speak of. Instead,the key to Bryce Canyon is geologyand the hoodoo formations carved there by water, wind andice. Indeed,when you visit the park and catch a glimpse of thehoodoos for the first time,you feel as though you’ve stumbledupon a completely different world filled with towering rockspires and ridges that look like something an avant garde sculp-tor might create.

Beyond these fantastic, dominating forms, the careful ob-server begins to pick up on the colors of the stone: Layersof bold orange, bright yellow and brilliant white providesome of the most surprising vistas I’ve ever seen and haveinspired me more than once to be more daring in workingwith colors in some of my designs.

As you hike through this landscape,your sense of being onan alien planet only intensifies. Some of the hoodoos reachheights of 200 feet, and their scale makes them both awe-in-spiring and a bit eerie at times. And the amazing thing is thatthese formations were not carved by rivers or glaciers butwere instead shaped by the steady sculpting power of rain,snow and wind.

In practical terms, visits here may be most rewarding tomodern artists, simply because the forms are so dramatic andunusual. Speaking for myself as a watershape and landscapedesigner, however, I’m satisfied by the fact that the place isjust incredibly cool.

62 • watershapes september 2 00 9

www.watershapes.com

Canyonrand

TheGLast (but certainly not least) in this grand tour is Grand Canyon

National Park. Established in northwest Arizona in 1908, the parkcovers an area of more than 1,900 square miles while stretching across277 miles in length and reaching down a mile at its greatest depth.

As with Yosemite, the Grand Canyon owes its entire existence towater and stands among the world’s most dramatic example ofthe power of water to carve the land. Words simply aren’t adequateto describe its natural majesty: It is, in short, an undisputed won-der of the natural world.

There are three basic ways to experience the Grand Canyon: upon the rim, on the walls or down on the Colorado River. I’ve doneall three and prize the fact that each experience is totally different.

For anyone involved in using water in their designs, I see the GrandCanyon as an absolutely essential destination – but I say the same tonon-designers as well. If you have any interest at all in geology ornatural science, the canyon is an open book ripe for study and readyto see and touch. And at the bottom of the canyon are exposed rocksthat are among the oldest on the globe, dating back some four bil-lion years to the Earth’s infancy.

In every sense, the Grand Canyon is a study in extremes. On one ofmy trips,for example,it was snowing at the rim,which stood at a 7,000foot elevation. I hiked down the canyon walls,and by the time I reachedthe base it was time for shorts and swimming before boarding the boat– a brisk,one-day experience of both alpine and desert climates.

One of my favorite all-time Grand Canyon hikes led me all the wayup to the rim,where I saw tiny rivulets of water emerging from a mas-sive rock formation. I followed along as this tiny flow coalesced andcombined with other,unseen flows. As I worked my way down,I ob-served this force of nature cutting its path through the rock, creatingdeeper and wider slot canyons – showing where, through the ages,time and water had carved some of their most sensuously spectacu-lar forms. And the light through these canyons is just awe-inspiring!

In exploring all of this, I was utterly amazed by the thought that,sources unseen,all of this water gathered into larger and larger flowsuntil it reached a point where the trickles had amassed into a 25-foot-wide torrent pushing over a massive waterfall.

It’s a place where you can see the most delicate flowering plants emergefrom seemingly impenetrable rock faces;where you can relax and soakin the vast beauty or fully test your physical limits; or where you canexperience nature on the grandest scale imaginable or study the tini-est aspects of a spectrum of ecosystems. You can absorb the grace ofthe most delicate tendrils of water and plant material – or dive fromancient rock formations into the bone-chilling waters of the river.

Again, the value of such visits and experiences isn’t always in thedesign ideas you might take away from the park; rather, it’s aboutwhat you can absorb of the spirit and essence of the places in seeingthem with your own eyes and feeling the effects of these experiencesto the core of your being. If absolutely nothing else,you’ll walk awaywith a dramatically amplified appreciation of nature, its sublime del-icacy and its raw power.

64 • watershapes september 2 00 9

19 3M Industrial Mineral Products • (800) 447-2914 www.3m.com/pools

32 Aqua Design Group • (877) 663-5028 www.aquadesigngroup.com

3 Aquamatic Cover Systems • (800) 262-4044 www.aquamatic.com

29 AquaStar Pool Products • (877) 768-2717 www.aquastarpoolproducts.com

14 BioNova Natural Pools • (908) 818-8135 www.bionovanaturalpools.com

13 Bradford Products • (800) 438-1669 www.bradfordproducts.com

12 Cover-Pools • (800) 447-2838 www.coverpools.com

11 Crystal Fountains • (800) 539-8858 www.crystalfountains.com

7 Deck-O-Seal • (800) 542-7665 www.deckoseal.com

69 Diamond Spas • (800) 951-7727 www.diamondspas.com

15 Drakeley Industries • (860) 274-4924 www.drakeleyindustries.com

9 Ewing Irrigation • (800) 343-9464 www.ewing1.com

30 Fountains Unique • (949) 305-7372 www.fountainsunique.com

63 Genesis 3 Schools • (877) 513-5800 www.genesis3.com

30 Gilderfluke & Co. • (800) 776-5972 www.gilderfluke.com

22 Grand Effects • (949) 697-5270 www.grandeffectsinc.com

30 Great American Waterfall Co. • (888) 683-0042 www.gawcinc.com

27 Haddonstone • (719) 948-4554 www.haddonstone.com

18 Hydro Dramatics • (877) 988-7867 www.hydrodramatics.com

32 InCord • (800) 596-1066 www.incord.com

23 International Pool l Spa l Patio Expo • (888) 869-8522 www.poolspapatio.com

31 International Tumble Stone • (866) 762-3206 www.tumblestone.com

31 IPS Controllers • (951) 693-3223 www.ipscontrollers.com

76 Jandy • (800) 822-7933 www.jandy.com

17 Kenneth Lynch & Sons • (203) 264-2831 www.klynchandsons.com

25 Kolorines • 011 52 777 329 6640 (in Mexico) www.kolorines.com

75 Lightstreams Glass Tile • (650) 966-8375 www.LightstreamsGlassTile.com

71 Macalite Equipment • (877) 622-2548 www.macaliteequipment.com

8 Pebble Technology • (866) 553-0619 www.pebbletec.com

21 PEM Fountain Co. • (800) 387-3600 www.pemfountain.ca

69 RehaMed International • (800) 577-4424 www.poollifts.com

20 Rock & Water Creations • (866) 466-7625 www.rock-n-water.com

2 Roman Fountains • (800) 794-1801 www.romanfountains.com

Page

68 Emperor Aquatics

68 Blisslights

68 Pentair Water Commercial Pool & Aquatics

68 Feeney

68 Kichler

68 Saline Generating Systems

68 Water Tech

68 Harmonic Environments

69 Cardinal Systems

69 W.R. Meadows

69 Paramount Pool & Spa Systems

69 Griswold Pump Co.

70 Pool Shot Products

70 Mineral Visions

70 New Water Solutions

70 CS Unitech

71 Versa-Lok Retaining Wall Systems

71 Asahi/America

71 A.O. Smith

71 pinta acoustic

72 Orbit/Evergreen

72 Evolution Fence Co.

72 Frank Wall Enterprises

72 Bobcat

Page

Advertiser Index

26 S.R. Smith • (877) 493-8335 www.wetdek.com

18 Scottsdale Water Designs • (888) 202-3455 www.poolscuppers.com

70 World Aquatic Health Conference • (719) 540-9119 www.nspf.org

Information Express

For live links to the companies listed in the Spotlight Index, go to

www.watershapes.com/spotlight


SpotlightIndex

Let your suppliers know where you found out about them:Mention September 2009 WaterShapes when

contacting them by phone or the interent

For More Information...Our reader service card has gone high-tech. Torequest additional information from any of the

advertisers listed below, go to www.watershapes.com/ads

EMPEROR AQUATICS (Pottstown, PA) hasintroduced the SafeGuard line of ultravioletsterilization devices. Made in both plasticand steel models to suit a variety of appli-cations, each device features a corrosion-re-sistant, watertight power enclosure and is

designed to deliver primary germicidal protection while meeting theregulatory and environmental challenges of the pond, swim andfountain markets.

PENTAIR WATER COMMERCIAL POOL& AQUATICS (Sanford, NC) has ex-panded the EQ Series of commercialpumps. Designed for commercial aquat-ic facilities and large, high-end residen-tial pools, the line now includes a 10-

horsepower, 230-volt, single-phase model – a high-performance,low-noise unit featuring closed impellers that guarantee a longermotor life even under the stress of higher loads.

In the SpotlightUV Sterilizers

Commercial Pump

KICHLER (Cleveland, OH) has added the CathedralCollection to the list of styles in its extensive GardenCollections line. The new look includes seven co-ordinated, die-cast-aluminum lighting products fin-ished in a textured-bronze powder coating. Eachitem features window-inspired crisscross patternsand citrine glass inserts for soft, wispy lighting de-signed to highlight plants as well as architecture.

Outdoor Lighting Fixture

WATER TECH (East Brunswick, NJ) has in-troduced Blue Pearl, a commercial-grade, ful-ly automatic, robotic swimming pool clean-er. Offering 2- to 3-hour cleaning cycles andfeaturing PVA climbing brushes to reach thetoughest spots on pool walls, the device workswith an external timer and comes with an au-

tomatic safety shut-off. It also has built-in air and optical sensorsand works on just 24 volts.

Robotic Pool Cleaner

www.watershapes.com

BLISSLIGHTS (Escondido, CA) offers a full line ofindoor and outdoor commercial and residentialspecialty laser light products. Designed to illumi-nate any water or garden space, the low-voltage,easy-installing, long-lasting, weather- and tem-perature-resistant units emit thousands of pin-points of holographic laser lighting to createsparkling lighting effects that spread throughoutany watershape or outdoor space.

Laser-Light System

FEENEY (Oakland, CA) offers DesignRailaluminum railings. Made using recycledcontent and featuring lighter weights,state-of-the-art powder coatings, long us-age cycles and attractive styles, the prod-ucts are designed for durability, low main-tenance and environmental integrity as well as quick on-siteassembly using pre-engineered components that snap and screwtogether without any special finishing.

Railing Systems

SALINE GENERATING SYSTEMS (Tempe, AZ) of-fers the SG Series of saltwater chlorinators. Thesimple-to-use, energy-efficient devices generatesoft, silky-feeling water with no chlorine odor, redeyes or skin irritation and can be used with an arrayof control systems. They come in three models forpools of 30,000, 45,000 and 60,000 gallons andhave a polarity-reversing electrode cycle to minimize cleaning.

Salt Chlorinators

HARMONIC ENVIRONMENTS (Stuart, FL)has introduced the Bellaqua Series of in-door waterfalls. Designed for simplicity andlow cost and engineered to standard spec-ifications, the freestanding waterfeaturesare designed for easy, turnkey integrationinto virtually any space, may be fully customized with finishesfrom the clients’ existing materials library and can incorporateboth lighting and graphics.

Indoor Waterfalls


For live links to the companies featured here, go to www.watershapes.com/spotlight

www.watershapes.com


CARDINAL SYSTEMS (Schuylkill Haven, PA)has introduced a retaining-wall system with thelook and durability of conventional block or con-crete walls without the weight or difficult as-sembly. The wall panels simply bolt togetherusing common hand tools, install quickly, re-quire virtually no maintenance and can be usedto create garden walls, planting beds, tree rings,

raised patios, terraces and boundary walls.

PARAMOUNT POOL & SPA SYSTEMS (Chandler,AZ) now offers an Equalizer version of its VGB-compliant SDX Retro High Flow Safety Drain.Designed for use on skimmer equalizer lines, thecover includes a spacer ring that allows for mount-ing without the need to chip away the finish and

substrate of the pool wall to create a recess as well as anchorsand screws to attach the cover to the pool wall.

Retaining Walls

Equalizer-Line Covers

september 2 00 9 watershapes • 6 9

W.R. MEADOWS (Hampshire, IL) has introducedLiqui-Hard Ultra Molecular Concrete Densifier &Chemical Hardener, a colorless, ready-to-use,easy-to-apply liquid that hardens and dustproofsconcrete at a molecular level. With proper spray-on application, the product eliminates dusting andpitting and improves the durability of the surfacewhile also increasing its abrasion and chemical resistance.

Concrete Densifier/Hardener

GRISWOLD PUMP CO. (Thomasville, GA) has intro-duced 4-, 6- and 8-inch Submersible Turbine Pumpsfor a variety of fountain and waterfeature applications.All made using heavy-duty, class 30 cast iron for max-imum efficiency and abrasion resistance and featur-ing long-life bronze bearings, the high-flow devicesalso feature enclosed silicon-bronze impellers.

Submersible Pumps


POOL SHOT PRODUCTS (Ashtabula, OH)has introduced a line of waterproof fur-nishings that glow courtesy of LED lightsinstalled within. The line includes chairs,cocktail tables, cubes, cylinders, polyballsand faux rocks – 18 items in all – each

made from weather-and waterproof polyethylene designed with arecess for a battery-operated LED that shines upwards and outwardsthrough each piece.

NEW WATER SOLUTIONS (Topton, NC)offers the Drainsafe DS360 drain cov-er. Designed as a replacement for all6-1/2- and 8-1/2-inch round coversover 5- or 8-inch sumps, the anti-en-trapment device comes with a univer-

sal fastener kit and security tool and works in both single- and dual-drain applications on floors or walls. Its dome structure also makesit friendly to pool cleaners and service brushes.

Lighted Pool/Patio Furniture

Anti-Entrapment Cover

In the Spotlight



MINERAL VISIONS (Chardon, OH) of-fers SpectraQuartz colored minerals foruse in conjunction with plaster finish-es. Made with 100% natural, perma-nently pigmented quartz, the additive is extremely hard, durableand chemical-resistant; comes in a huge array of standard col-ors and custom blends that won’t bleed or fade; and can be usedto create every look from a subtle shading to a bold statement.

Quartz Pool Finish

CS UNITECH (Norwalk, CT) offers theModel 2 2404 0030 Pneumatic RotaryHammer. Designed for safe use in wetenvironments, the lightweight device de-livers 3,000 blows per minute, operatesunderwater and has an exhaust system that pipes air away fromthe tool, eliminating bubbles underwater and giving the diver aclear view of the work area. It can also be converted to straightrotary drilling at 625 rpm.

Rotary Hammer


VERSA-LOK RETAINING WALL SYSTEMS(Oakdale, MN) offers the Mosaic option foruse in building attractive retaining walls tothe highest engineering standards. Made bycombining three different modules (one fromthe company’s Standard line, one from its

Cobble line and two from its Accent line) into one new look, the ran-domly patterned system assembles easily as 10-by-24-inch panels.

A.O. SMITH (Tipp City, OH) has published lit-erature on its line of two-speed motors for pooland spa applications. The four-page, full-colorleaflet offers details on units designed to runquieter, cooler and longer while using less elec-tricity and operating with greater efficiency, cov-ering options for inground and abovegroundpools and spas as well as compliance with

California’s Title 20 requirements.

Block Retaining Walls

Two-Speed Motors



ASAHI/AMERICA (Malden, MA) now of-fers CPVC discs with its Type 57 ButterflyValves. Offered with the 3-, 4-, 6- and 8-inch models, the new discs offer enhancedsafety and performance in aggressivechemical environments compared to stan-dard PVC discs. The valves’ stem design isolates the valve bodyfrom the pipeline fluid, so the water contacts only the disc andthe full-seat liner material.

Butterfly Valves

PINTA ACOUSTIC (Minneapolis, MN) hasintroduced the WhisperWave line ofacoustical control products. Available aspanels, baffles, ceiling clouds and awnings,the products can be suspended from theceiling, mounted along a wall or used asan awning to provide exceptional acoustical control across allfrequencies, making them ideal for use around indoor swimmingpools and other large open areas.

Acoustical Panels


ORBIT/EVERGREEN (Los Angeles, CA)has added new models to its expandingseries of 12- and 120-volt LED step lights.With more than 20 models in the line,these long-lasting, energy-efficient out-

door luminaires can be used in entryways and decks, outdoor walk-ways and garden patios and feature 18, 40, 42, 48 and 60 LED lamparrays, various cover-plate options and a variety of materials andfinishes.

FRANK WALL ENTERPRISES (Columbus,MS) has introduced an aluminum form-ing system for installation of poured-in-place concrete retaining walls withinpoolscapes. The system is modular, so

builders can produce a range of geometric and freeform shapes,and the forms are stackable, allowing for higher pours and mak-ing them ideal for use for raised pool walls, waterfeatures and mul-ti-level decks.

Step Lights

Wall-Forming System

In the Spotlight


EVOLUTION FENCE CO. (Hauppauge, NY) has addedcustom gates to its line of fence products, includ-ing single- and double-arch gates made to fit anyarchitectural need. Available to match various stan-dard fence styles, the custom products can be upto 8 feet tall and up to 8 feet long, with every picketwelded to every rail and every rail to every framejunction, and are also available with locking devices.

Custom Gates

BOBCAT (West Fargo, ND) has intro-duced its M-Series of skid-steer andcompact track loaders. Designed for su-perior performance and durability, thedevices feature greater power, increasedoperator comfort and improved visibil-ity in six models ranging in rated operating capacities from 2,180to 2,690 pounds. The hydraulics have also been upgraded to al-low for efficient completion of more work.

Skid-Steer/Track Loaders


Many of you have asked why you need to fill out subscription

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Here’s why:

We are required by the U.S. Postal Service and the Bureau of Publication

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This is important, so take a minute once each year to complete one of the subscription card we include in

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ATTENTION ALL READERS!

n looking back on my career, I see that the past 20 yearshave been marked by a number of points at which I al-tered what I was doing.

Sometimes I changed companies; other times I found a wayof shifting my approach to my work or how I conducted mylife. In looking back, I’m proud of the fact that every time Ichose to go in a new direction, the changes I made resulted indramatic improvements in my career and in my enjoymentof my work and, indeed, of my life in general.

In other words, I’ve learned that,when approached the rightway,change offers us an opportunity to advance our own caus-es in business and in life. Yes, it can be scary in that it typi-cally involves risk, presents short-term challenges or diffi-culties and can require patience,nerve and courage. I’ve learnedthat to make these adjustments effectively,one must also haveself-confidence and humility.

In all but a couple of instances, I can’t help noticing that thechanges I made were attended by tough economic conditionssuch as those we’re experiencing right now: You don’t have to bea psychologist to recognize that when our livelihoods are threat-ened,we are more likely to consider changing what we do or howwe do it than we are when times are good and the living is easy.

These days, I know a number of people in the watershapingindustry who are caught in the midst of these sorts of passages.I also know some good people who have left the business al-together and many other talented professionals who are con-sidering career changes as well.

At the same time, I know many people who, despite theeconomy, are experiencing tremendous success. Almost to aperson, these are watershapers who stand atop the profession,the kind who write of their projects in this magazine, work atthe highest level and are happy to share what they know withothers. They have carved out markets among similarly suc-cessful clients who have weathered the storms – and I’m cer-tain that, if asked, all would say that, in the histories of theirown careers, they’ve come to turning points where they madekey adjustments and set new courses.

All of this leads me to the book I want to offer you this month:The Nature of Excellence by David Cottrell and Lee J.Colan withphotography by Tom Fox (Cornerstone Leadership Institute,2008). It’s a compact, 88-page book about just the sort of in-spiration we all need in times of tumult, stress and change.

Each page features a beautiful picture of a natural scene ac-companied by an inspirational quote,mostly by famous people.Many of these are comments we’ve heard before,but in this caseorganization is the key: The book is broken into three sectionscovering values of excellence, visions of excellence and acts ofexcellence, and each of those is further arranged into six relat-ed subtopics – every one of them illuminating a basic idea forthe reader to consider.

The photography here is as beautiful as any I’ve ever seen –truly stunning – and the selected quotes are always potent,gen-uinely inspiring and distinctively thought-provoking. In fact,even the most cynical among us would be surprised by how af-fecting these beautifully conceived pages are, with a roster ofcommentators including such diverse characters as Bill Cosby,Winston Churchill,Norman Vincent Peale,Margaret Mead andVince Lombardi (among many others).

One of my favorites is attributed to the recently departed andmuch-missed George Carlin: “Life is not measured by thebreaths we take,but by the moments that take our breath away.”One way or another, we all can use just that sort of audaciousinsight to nourish our idealism, stoke our optimism, fuel ourcreativity and bolster our sense of purpose.

My hunch: Wherever you are these days, you might just findsome big time encouragement along those lines in the pages ofthis little book.

By Mike Farley

WS

Seeking Inspiration

Mike Farley is a landscape architect with more than 20 years ofexperience and is currently a designer/project manager for ClaffeyPools in Southlake, Texas. A graduate of Genesis 3’s Level I DesignSchool, he holds a degree in landscape architecture from TexasTech University and has worked as a watershaper in both Californiaand Texas.

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