Behind the scenes with Chris Jackson of Aquarius Pools
by Kylie de Boer
winner of the 2021 Remco Pool of the year award
We sat down with the 2021 Remco Pool of the Year award winner, Chris Jackson from Aquarius Pools, to find out more about the inspiration behind the winning pool, what the award has meant for Aquarius Pools and Chris’s journey to date.
What did it mean to win the Remco pool of the year award? Exciting, from a business point of view. But for us, one of the big takeaways is how much the staff and our clients got out of it. Truly pleasing that it’s a recognition of the staff’s hard work, and the team’s hard work, and quite a good uplift in hard COVID times. Although we have won this award three times before, I think it meant more this time as it was nice to have some good news. It is a pool that was a particularly exciting project in its own right. Sometimes you can win (or lose) and wonder why, but this is a pool we are very proud of.
How has winning impacted your business?
I think it gives you credibility when you’re selling. We’re lucky in the recreational industry at the moment to have gone through exceptionally busy times. In my 37 years, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Something you wouldn’t have expected with COVID. Has it impacted directly on sales? It’s always hard to tell, but I don’t think good news about your brand, and even broader than that the industry - which these awards bring - is a bad thing. No doubt it’s been good. Good for our clients, our marketing, our business model, as well as our staff.
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What was the inspiration behind the winning pool?
The client’s brief for the pool and the spa provided a lot of inspiration in itself. That - combined with our team’s input - plus the team at Leone Constructions with whom we do quite a bit of work, all contributed towards the innovative design which was done by Cera Stribley Architects. It really was a collaborative team approach. Right from day one it wasn’t about getting the budget right, but the project right, and the budget to fit that. So we were lucky that the blinkers were off with the architects. We have also done a lot of work with the builder and the architect in the past, and they are both extremely supportive when it comes to what we need to actually pull off with a project like this, as well as the large equipment spaces required - which always helps. The end result definitely reflects the collective vision of all parties involved. In terms of the design itself, from the start the clients were keen for a beautiful water feature, whilst also a low maintenance pool for laps and entertaining. The curved sculptural form of the house was designed to wrap around the pool and all the rooms in the house point north overlooking the swimming pool and out towards the city. LED lights were utilised to provide a stunning water feature at night. During the design process we actually played with the wet edges a lot, to enable us to achieve both the visual look that the clients were after, and also the functionality of the design. The scale and complexity of this project is definitely a standout. There is an infinity edge on three sides and the entire pool extends the length of the neighbour’s garden. The back and side have a five metre drop off into a balance tank. Swim jets were incorporated to allow lap swimming and there is a hidden gutter that stops the water from the pool and spa interacting. So, there is quite a lot of detail in it. The pool equipment is under the pool. You wouldn’t see anyone fit out a plant room to this level of detail on too many domestic pools. It’s hard to talk about that, but the fact is it was all done to the millimetre. The aim was to make a pool that was completely self-cleaning and easy to use. It’s completely controlled by a phone app which we also have access to back at the office if needed. It’s fully automated with in-floor cleaning so that the clients can just enjoy.
