Amantea Architects from Toronto has built a wooden pool house in the garden of a Canadian family to accommodate washing and changing facilities, as well as to block views from a neighbouring property. The project built its structure at the end of the plot in King's City.
Initially, tall Norway spruce trees were used to define the edge of the yard to secure privacy for the Ontario home of four. However, they didn't suffice to block views between the home's living room and the neighboring house.
Amantea Architects came in with a better solution by designing a structure that would provide privacy, outdoor living spaces, and amenities for a new swimming pool. The wooden pool house design, which is conceived as a pavilion, follows the line of trees to form an additional barrier, and accommodates shower room and a changing area.
The front of the wooden pool house includes slats of Douglas Fir, both vertical and horizontal while solid boards in the same wood dresses up the back. "The versatility of wood allows the pavilion to be at once opaque and transparent and at times luminous, and serves as the main focal point of the yard, instead of the neighbouring house," Amantea said.
Additionally, the wooden pool house is elevated on helical piles above the natural landscape grade to minimise the impact to tree roots compared to traditional foundations, according to Dezeen. A veranda between the pool and the main house creates a shaded outdoor dining area over a bespoke oak table.
There is also a concrete counter combining BBQ and a sink that serves as an outdoor kitchen, next to the wooden pool house. This is definitely indicative of the many the many shapes and sizes pool houses may come in, ranging from this simple pavilion to a two-storey building in Arkansas complete with an overhanging sleeping loft.
