Interior Dynamics

摘要

Designing structures to surround indoor pools offers the watershaper the fundamental challenge of creating an interior space that needs all the functional characteristics of an exterior one. That's so mainly because ordinary residential structures aren't made to enclose anything that even remotely approaches the moisture levels encountered when an indoor pool is surrounded and separated from the open air. This leads to consideration of the air-handling, temperature-control and humidity-related issues covered in my first article on this subject (WaterShapes, September 2003, page 40), but it almost always leads as well to a need to balance those practicalities with a natural desire on the part of clients to have a room that is aesthetically pleasing and fits into its architectural context. This balancing act sounds simple enough, but the truth is that getting it right often leads you to unusual solutions involving building materials - and especially surface materials - that are almost always reserved for outdoor use. Taking the pool inside, in other words, means thinking about stucco, pressure-treated lumber, exposed-aggregate decking, stamped concrete, stone, brickwork and a host of other possible materials in what are atypical situations for the average designer or builder. And believe me, client demands for these surrounding structures run the range from the traditional and formal straight through to the sleek and modem, hitting on every possible style in between. In each case, you need to anticipate and accommodate the burdens those choices place on specific systems and set things up in such a way that the moist air in the room doesn't attack the structure meant to contain it.