Poolscape wins International Natural Pool Award for ‘Secret Forest’ design
A stunning, secluded natural pool, located in the heart of a forest in the Brecon National Park in Wales, has scooped a major International Award for its designers, Poolscape Ltd.
The ‘Forest Pool’ has won a BIOTOP International Natural Pool Award for the best Natural Pool design, beating off entries from around Europe. The pool was designed and built by Herefordshire based Poolscape Ltd and was created for two artists, who have a home in Brecon National Park.
The client’s brief was to create a magical natural pool within an old disused quarry, in the middle of the forest. The clients, who wish to remain anonymous to ensure their privacy, wanted a natural spring water swimming pool that blended seamlessly with the surrounding Welsh Countryside.
The pool’s remote location five miles into the forest, meant the construction was extremely challenging for Poolscape’s team, which had to transport all materials on dumper trucks, via a muddy, single-width forest track, which was unsuitable for lorries.
The natural pool is 144 m² in size and divided into a 40 m² regeneration zone and a 104 m² swimming area and it is 2.4 metres deep at its deepest point. The pool is chemical free, and is naturally cleansed using plants and BIOTOP’s patented filtration system. The pool was constructed using as many sustainable materials as possible, including BIOTOP’s recycled corner units, which avoid the need for large volumes of concrete. The stone used was collected from the old quarry and the Larch for the timber deck was sourced locally. Once complete, the forest pool was filled using natural spring water from the many local streams on the private estate.
A team of international architects and landscape designers were on the judging panel for the International Pool Awards, including UK landscape designer Hannah Genders. The international jury agreed that the project showed “high quality in the implementation” and possessed “excellent quality of craftsmanship”.
Commenting on the project, Poolscape’s managing director Peter Miles said: “This was an unusual project due to its remote location and its limited access, plus the famous Welsh ‘weather’ didn’t help us at all during the build! But all the hard work has really paid off. We have exceeded our client’s expectations and created a magical place where by night they can swim under the stars, or by day they can relax and soak up the incredible views. The most important thing is that our clients are delighted, but for us to also receive this Natural Pool Award, is a great honour and a real bonus for all our team.”
Image credit: Ian Thwaites
