Project: The Harris Poolhouse
John Pardey Architects won an RIBA competition to build a new swimming pool onto a large mansion in Haslemere, Surrey. The concept was based on the idea of creating a walled garden – a container for a building that could create a special place on an exposed site at the top of a ridge. A dark yew tree offered an immediate presence of nature and the idea of counterpointing this with a man-made garden took root. The walled garden became a courtyard, a spiritually rich, calm place that abstracts nature - stone, water, sun, shadows and sky in the tradition of the Zen garden. The building is enclosed by a terne-coated stainless steel (tcs) clad, folded roof. Internally cedar linings wrap over limestone walls. The floor is English limestone and the pool is mosaic tiled. An oak clad ‘box’ containing a study projects through the frameless glass wall.
The pool and service accommodation is placed on two sides of the court facing the sun with interior and exterior separated only by a glazed screen. The court provides a new place within the environs of the house, a world within a world that is detached and sheltered, dedicated to the nature of sun and sky, peace and relaxation. The pool angles away from the house to catch the late afternoon sun for the daily swimming ritual, whilst service rooms nestle against the existing house wall. The studio forms an oak-clad ‘box’ that projects through the glazed wall, focussed on distant views across the valley. Pool and studio shelter beneath a tcs coated stainless steel roof, like as a wing in flight.
The poolhouse exploits the natural cycle of the seasons in the most simple way possible, avoiding the whirring of fans and air handling plant in favour of natural ventilation and subtle underfloor heating in winter. The building is founded on a 450mm thick raft foundation and the pool is an independent structure formed in sprayed concrete with an expansion joint between pool and building structures. Slender circular steel columns support the roof and mid-height glazing transom; deflection is limited by a fixed connection at their base, but pinned at the top. The roof is formed in 200mm thick stressed skin and insulated plywood panels with a tcs roof covering. The court and pool enclosing walls are formed in sandstone to match the main house.
The pool is trapezoid on plan, a shape generated by the enclosing glazed wall pulling back from the nearby yew tree whilst providing a shape that both avoids the ubiquitous rectangular form, yet allows the use of an automatic retracting pool cover. Dark blue mosaics in the pool evoke a limpid depth and tranquillity, a theme that is continued in the changing and service rooms. Above the pool, cedar boarding provides a relaxation deck and roof lining.
PROJECT DETAILS Client: Status: Contract value:
Graham + June Harris Completed 2006 Confidential
Structural Engineer: M+E Engineers: Pool Contractor:
Barton Engineers E+M Technica Rainbow Pools