10 minute read
ITALIANS DO IT BETTER
« Design, technology, but also respect for the environment and nature. These are key trends for the Italian pool and spa Industry: beautiful water areas both comfortable and super-equipped »
↑[ Doc. Onda Blu Piscine - Photo Marco Bargnesi ]
The coronavirus pandemic we have been experiencing for two years has reshaped the image we had of our private spaces, our homes, our gardens and led us to reclaim and use them like never before. Since last spring, more and more Italians felt the desire – and the need – to give new life to their gardens (and their terraces, roofs, and interiors) by introducing a swimming pool: water is strongly perceived as an element of health and well-being, a temple of relaxation and a symbol of fun. This kind of made up for the impossibility to go to public facilities and created many available safe oases for when it’s not possible to get away from home for the summer holidays. Consequentially, small gardens were converted into “outdoor living rooms”, residential pools became gyms for water yoga or water gymnastics, the need to air rooms removed the barriers between indoors and outdoors, and sunbathing
now takes place in the safety of private terraces rather than among other people in a park. At the same time, together with the increase of new pools in Italy (some Italian companies report a 30-50% increase in turnover), there has been a growth in their modernisation and renovation, especially for private pools and private pools for public use. Italian pools are especially outdated: many pools are out of standard and/or need improvement, not only aesthetically, but
↑[ Doc. Nord Piscine ]
also in terms of engineering. For this reason, taking advantage of the stalemate imposed by the regulations to prevent the spread of Covid-19, many private individuals and managers of hotels, accommodation facilities, resorts and public facilities decided to upgrade their swimming pools, improving their safety, efficiency and – of course – aesthetics. Thanks to government bonuses, many have also opted for energy and water efficiency interventions to lighten the consumption of resources and the amount of bills, all with a green perspective that is increasingly felt in our country. Having said that, what are the main features currently required by the Italian pool market? Let's see them together!
ITALIAN STYLE Made in Italy knows no bounds: thanks to their skills and experience, Italian pool designers and manufacturers cre-
ate incredibly beautiful and unique scenarios, meeting the tastes and needs of both private and public customers. The Italian swimming pool park welcomes projects of any type, varying from those characterized by an urban feel to the purest and most natural ones, to complex geometric shapes or minimal lines. The elements used – glass, metal, wood, concrete, resin, etc. – combine harmoniously with each other to create high quality pools with great aesthetic impact. Three are the key concepts: design, technology and respect for the environment and nature. The Italian pool and spa Industry boasts beautiful water areas both comfortable and super-equipped, enriched with accessories for relaxation and wellness, as well as purely hitech details often combined with the use of natural materials. Among the most recurring elements, the suggestive infinity edge, the insertion of one or more glass or acrylic walls, the stone and wooden surfaces, the underwater LED lighting, the hydromassage areas, water-saving and en-
« Light is a fundamental element, one of the most versatile and exciting architectural forms that can be moulded »
ergy systems, and safety devices. What's more, the management of the pool no longer weighs heavily on the owner. On the contrary, it's simple and smart thanks to home automation, which, with a wide range of automated solutions, facilitates maintenance and ordinary “administration” of the pool. Particularly, glass is an undisputed protagonist in the Italian pool industry when it comes to scenographic effects, always maintaining a refined and modern elegance that strikes straight to the heart of the observer. By using
glass for the walls or the floor, the pool gains a considerable architectural and functional value. And let’s not forget another very relevant ally for transparency in the pool: the acrylic, a material that's experiencing ever-increasing popularity in this sector. Although it needs more accurate and careful maintenance, acrylic allows creating the most extreme shapes and innovative patterns, with the designer imagination as the only limit. Light is another fundamental element, one of the most versatile and exciting architectural forms that can be molded, set up and changed: for this reason, designers love it and use it to give pools a truly unique touch. From underwater RGB LEDs, which light up water with iridescent shades, to poolside lights, whose combinations create fantastic and captivating atmospheres or romantic and delicate ones depending on the context and the moment. The Italian pool Industry is also moving towards soft geometries, smooth lines, and a strong presence of sand, wood, or vegetation. Natural and pure, with local and environmentally-sustainable materials: this is the identikit of a pool that’s more and more requested. A mountain lake or pebbled shore, a pool inspired by the countryside, that merges seamlessly with the outdoor area and the outdoor beauty.
↓[ Doc. Punto Blu - Photo Michele Iannotti ]
“GREEN”, PLEASE Eco-sustainability is a central focus. Considered that swimming pools can be eco-sustainable, in Italy Piscine Oggi magazine and ForumPiscine - International Pool and Spa Expo & Congress presented the Self-sufficient Pool, a special project based on a perfectly functioning 1:1 scale installation of an eco-friendly, zero-impact swimming pool, that has been the masterpiece of 2020 edition of the Salon. In short, the demonstration of how technology, automation, sustainability, self-sufficiency can – and must – coexist together in the aquatic system, a model that's not only a construction methodology but a sum of technical devices and good practices united under an avant-garde concept that’s necessary in an age when fresh and clean water is becoming an increasingly rare commodity. Sustainability and zero impact are two more and more important concepts for Italian designers. One of the most recent examples of this trend is in Verona, where a 50,000 square metres disused area will benefit from a redevelopment project leading to the creation of a sports and leisure centre of about 8,000 square metres, the Platys Center. The project, by Magnoli&Partners, an architecture firm of the Edison energy
↓[ Doc. SYS Piscine - Photo Clara Azenoni ]
« Sustainability and zero impact are two increasingly important concepts for Italian designers »
↑[ Doc. Milla ]
group, immediately stood out for its strong eco-sustainable connotation, translated into a plan for urban and human regeneration where aesthetics combines with ethics with a view to eco-literacy. The Platys Center, whose design has been awarded the Green Building Council certification (granted to a sports and leisure centre for the first time in Europe) will be classified as a nZEB structure, an acronym for Nearly Zero Energy Building used to indicate highly efficient buildings that require an extremely small amount of energy to operate. These two “awards” were gained by a project that’s perfectly in line with Verona’s need to cut energy consumption and reduce both pollution and carbon dioxide emissions, in order to make the urban environment healthier and fight against energy poverty.
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LET’S HAVE FUN! An especially popular new trend in the Italian private sector is the inclusion of slides, showers and devices that transform the swimming pool into a sort of personal water park. In public centres, the “adventure” dimension is very popular, often including rivers, torrents to be sailed up with rubber dinghies, more or less daring slides, water blades and waterfalls, which transform a pool into a water park without affecting the entrance fee too much. The general impoverishment caused by 2008 economic crisis and, recently, the financial crisis generated by the Covid-19 pandemic led many families, with less money and more uncertain professional prospects, to change their definition of holi-
days, aiming at low-cost experiences. The same trend, although on a smaller scale, has occurred in the residential swimming pool sector: more and more private individuals want to add a little exercise, for the health of the body and the enjoyment of the mind. Similarly, there are people who prefer to convert their swimming pool into a gymnasium, also taking into account the coronavirus restrictions: this is why they choose elements that allow them to do sport in the water, from aquabikes to underwater treadmills, up to devices for swimming with a current. Finally, there is an increasing demand for waterfalls, spouts, geysers and hydromassage areas: apart from livening up the pool area, these elements are extremely useful allies for well-being and relaxation.
« More and more people want some devices that transform the swimming pool into a sort of personal water park »
↑[ Doc. Acquapark ]
KEY WORD: SAFETY No device can ever replace a human being. However, devices might help to ensure that there is constant control in the pool and intervene and prevent fatal accidents. For this reason, more and more private pool owners and managers of public facilities decide to provide their pools with safety devices. Underwater alarms, in particular, are considered to be very effective in preventing accidental drowning, especially in combination with a barrier that keeps children from entering the water without supervision. While a cover is necessary to prevent accidental falls when the pool is not in use, wearable water wings are becoming increasingly popular, especially in order to protect younger swimmers. Safety outside the pool is also taken into account by installing anti-slip and anti-trauma floors, which are very useful for reducing the number of accidents linked to the presence of water on surfaces that become slippery. Finally, circulation pumps equipped with a safety device capable of disabling the pump's suction capacity within a few seconds and immediately releasing a trapped body or object are becoming increasingly common.
↓↑ [ Doc. Progetto Ambiente - Photo Piscine Castiglione ]
DECORATING WITH STYLE As stated before, the pandemic we are currently living has reshaped our private spaces and gardens. For this reason, more attention is being paid to the furnishing of these spaces and, of course, of the poolside. The choice is increasingly falling on sofas in resistant yet fashionable fabrics, carpets that withstand poolside constant humidity and beautiful wooden tables designed to withstand the weather. And then the materials: wood, glass, plexiglass, stone, metals. Decorating the area around a swimming pool is like decorating a living room or a dining room: you need taste, an eye and above all a good overall view. By combining design and materials, our outdoor environment can take on the character we want: a shabby chic corner, with pastel colours and soft curves, with a hint of Art Nouveau and a touch of classic country taste, a more minimalist connotation, with clean lines, uniform shades and a studied contrast between materials or even a romantic atmosphere, with floral patterns, sweet combinations of canvas and wood, and maybe some floating lamps. And since taking a shower is a good rule before entering a pool, this accessory also becomes a stylish detail: made of steel or wood, with a built-in foot washbasin or eco-friendly, in all shapes and/or sizes, the shower is a must-have that washes all thoughts away before a healthy dive into the pool.
