Recently, we were hired by clients who had purchased a new home on the steeply sloped lot with extensive wetlands restrictions. They wanted desperately to have a state of the art pool and 4 season spa built somewhere on the property, but the restrictions made having a pool prohibitive. After some research, it became apparent that the only option was to propose the pool on the second story terrace located directly off the kitchen, and above an existing living space – in this case a rooftop pool.
Although we designed and built water features atop rooftops in places like Manhattan, we knew proposing a swimming pool on the second story on a newly purchased home in the suburbs might sound extreme – especially to new clients who probably never entertained the idea. So before pitching the concept, the Cross River design team did some homework and learned the existing substructure would not support the weight of a new pool made of the typical components gunite (concrete). Switching gears we proposed the pool be made of stainless steel which would weigh less than 1/5th of weight of a concrete pool. Once we made the math work, we presented the idea to the clients and they loved it. We explained it was possible to give them the pool of their dreams directly outside their home, and the bonus would be three sides would now have a vanishing edge component while taking advantage of the attractive views toward the back of the property.
Our challenge was to design the pool shell to fit precisely within an eighth of an inch to the dimensions of a new slab on the terrace. If the shell was off by more than 1/8 of an inch, the rooftop pool could not safely rest on the slab and the project would need to be scrapped. Once the design and engineering of the pool shell was finished, we had the shell fabricated off- site. When fabrication was complete, the pool was shipped to the project site on three separate tractor-trailer beds, where each section was carefully raised to the second-story using a 50 ton crane. The rooftop pool sections were then welded together on site, ground smooth and tiled over to match tile already installed during fabrication. In the end, the pool fit neatly on top of the roof, and provided all the amenities the client required to complete their wish list including: a vanishing edge which overlooked the lush wetlands and wooded areas in the distance, a perimeter overflow with water continually cascading over a tiled edge, and a 4 season spa located inside the pool. The spa was designed to provide 12 months of use even when the pool was closed and winterized.
