Amazing outdoor space with views of the Bay. Hilltop Residence is the best place to spend California days.

New pool addition with infinity edge glass tile hot tub and tanning ledge. Tropical landscape design. Photo by: Luxe Hunters

The original pool was replaced with a new gunite pool, which is surrounded by a French patterned stone. Multiple seating areas make it perfect for hosting.

Pool, dock, and outdoor fireplace/kitchen

Looking south from the pool house terrace at the swimming pool, outdoor kitchen, and panoramic views beyond..

A former dairy property, Lune de Sang is now the centre of an ambitious project that is bringing back a pocket of subtropical rainforest to the Byron Bay hinterland. The first seedlings are beginning to form an impressive canopy but it will be another 3 centuries before this slow growth forest reaches maturity. This enduring, multi-generational project demands architecture to match; if not in a continuously functioning capacity, then in the capacity of ancient stone and concrete ruins; witnesses to the early years of this extraordinary project. The project’s latest component, the Pavilion, sits as part of a suite of 5 structures on the Lune de Sang site. These include two working sheds, a guesthouse and a general manager’s residence. While categorically a dwelling too, the Pavilion’s function is distinctly communal in nature. The building is divided into two, very discrete parts: an open, functionally public, local gathering space, and a hidden, intensely private retreat. The communal component of the pavilion has more in common with public architecture than with private dwellings. Its scale walks a fine line between retaining a degree of domestic comfort without feeling oppressively private – you won’t feel awkward waiting on this couch. The pool and accompanying amenities are similarly geared toward visitors and the space has already played host to community and family gatherings. At no point is the connection to the emerging forest interrupted; its only solid wall is a continuation of a stone landscape retaining wall, while floor to ceiling glass brings the forest inside. Physically the building is one structure but the two parts are so distinct that to enter the private retreat one must step outside into the landscape before coming in. Once inside a kitchenette and living space stress the pavilion’s public function. There are no sweeping views of the landscape, instead the glass perimeter looks onto a lush rainforest embankment lending the space a subterranean quality. An exquisitely refined concrete and stone structure provides the thermal mass that keeps the space cool while robust blackbutt joinery partitions the space. The proportions and scale of the retreat are intimate and reveal the refined craftsmanship so critical to ensuring this building capacity to stand the test of centuries. It’s an outcome that demanded an incredibly close partnership between client, architect, engineer, builder and expert craftsmen, each spending months on careful, hands-on iteration. While endurance is a defining feature of the architecture, it is also a key feature to the building’s ecological response to the site. Great care was taken in ensuring a minimised carbon investment and this was bolstered by using locally sourced and recycled materials. All water is collected locally and returned back into the forest ecosystem after use; a level of integration that demanded close partnership with forestry and hydraulics specialists. Between endurance, integration into a forest ecosystem and the careful use of locally sourced materials, Lune de Sang’s Pavilion aspires to be a sustainable project that will serve a family and their local community for generations to come.

Greg Premru

Lowell Custom Homes, Lake Geneva, WI. Pool House, Shingle style architecture, bluestone patio surrounding pool with relaxing views and seating areas .A wall of glass doors opens to allow fresh air and plenty of sunlight while guests enjoy views of the pool and surrounding landscape. White wood trim, glass wall, sliding doors open to bluestone terrace and pool area. Victoria McHugh

A cool, intimate garden with plunge pool and spa is ready for the owners and their friends after a day at the beach. Photo Credit: John Benford Contractor: Stoney Brook Landscape and Masonry Pool and Hot Tub: Jackson Pools Garage: Bob Reed

The stone work and decking around the pool are the jewels of the back yard. The waterfall in the far corner provides natural sounds and softens the corner of the pool as the vista continues sweeping to the golf course. Chris Little Photography

concrete 1200h raised pool to meet pool regulations. With infinity edge of glass mosaics

Request Free Quote This sport pool measures 14'0" x 28'0", and is 3'6" deep at each end, 5'6" in the middle. Featuring an automatic safety cover with a custom stone lid system and Indiana Limestone coping, this pool epitomizes basic elegance. The pool features "wedding cake" steps at one end and two corner benches at the opposite end. Photos by Rockit Projects

Schwimmteich in einem Parkgarten mit erhöter Terrasse. Eine Mauer aus Kalkstein bildet den Höhensprung vom Becken zur Terrasse hinter der sich ein Saunahaus befindet.

Product: Authentic Thick Limestone Pool Coping elements for pool edge Ancient Surfaces Contacts: (212) 461-0245 Email: Sales@ancientsurfaces.com Website: www.AncientSurfaces.com The design of external living spaces is known as the 'Al Fresco' space design as it is called in Italian. 'Al Fresco' translates in 'the open' or 'the cool/fresh exterior'. Customizing a contemporary swimming pool or spa into a traditional Italian Mediterranean pool can be easily achieved by selecting one of our most prized surfaces, 'The Foundation Slabs' pool coping Oolitic planks. The ease and cosines of this outdoor Mediterranean pool and spa experience will evoke in most a feeling of euphoria and exultation that on only gets while being surrounded with the pristine beauty of nature. This powerful feeling of unison with all has been known in our early recorded human history thought many primitive civilizations as a way to get people closer to the ultimate truth. A very basic but undisputed truth and that's that we are all connected to the great mother earth and to it's powerful life force that we are all a part of...