Man-Made Oases: 7 Elegant Pools in the Great Outdoors

Whether they’re a refuge from the arid desert or a haven in the tropical forest, these pools are an element of peace in dramatic environments.

Pascal Hogue

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As a typology, outdoor pools are not necessarily exceptional. They sprinkle suburbs and cities throughout the world and are a statement of leisure almost as ubiquitous as well-groomed lawns. But in environments outside of the urban fabric of cities, where the absence of human infrastructure leaves us vulnerable to the unpredictability of the environment, pools become something greater: they are an assertion of human comfort, perhaps to remedy environmental extremes such as heat and humidity.

In such places, pools can become an artistic statement when they are freed from the physical constraints of the urban world. The seven designs below demonstrate how outdoor pools can interact with their adjacent home and surrounding landscape, acting as a reflection or as a contrast to that environment.

Desert Palisades

By WOODS + DANGARAN, Palm Springs, CA

10th Annual A+Awards, Jury Winner, Residential – Residential (>3000 sq ft) Interiors

Lightly perched above the floor of the La Quinta Valley, this home adopts a classic desert modernist aesthetic. The home’s exterior cladding of earth-toned plaster and textured concrete masonry puts it in harmony with the similarly brownish desert, but the structure’s simple and elegant rectangular compositions offer a balanced contrast with the valley’s rugged, uneven and hostile character. In similar fashion, the small outdoor pool, sheltered in one of the home’s two courtyards, pairs well in tone with the constant clear-blue sky, but provides instead a refreshing alternative to the arid climate.

Casa Malandra

By TAC, Puerto Escondido, Mexico

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private House (XS < 1000 sq ft)

This private home in the coastal town of Puerto Escondido uses vernacular materials to create a peaceful resort in line with the local architecture. But the concrete-cast pool which extends beyond the main room is undeniably modernist. It serves as its own micro-climate comfortably shielded by several canopies, both natural and man-made.

Casa Meztitla

By EDAA | Estrategias para el Desarrollo de Arquitectura, Tepoztlán, Mexico

Jury Winner, 2016 A+Awards, Architecture +Water

This rural home in Tepoztlán, Mexico is a tranquil abode flanked by the imposing rock mountains of El Tepozteco. The house brings together monolithic white volumes with vernacular rough stone sections, allowing nature to project itself onto the structure. Meanwhile, a lap pool nearby acts like the house’s miniature desert oasis; it crawls under trees’ dense foliage like an emerald-tinted river breaking through an arid landscape. The pool offers a peaceful place to enjoy the nature that surrounds and blankets over it.

Hale Lana

By Olson Kundig, Hawaii County, HI

Photos by Nic Lehoux

This family retreat overlooking the sea in Hale Lana, Hawaii is a small manicured oasis amid the island’s volcanic rock. The collection of low-lying pavilions are connected by elevated wooden lanais and provide extended generous canopy for outdoor activity. A long rectangular pool imitates the elongated pavilions in their style and simplicity, and like the rest of the resort, exists in explicit contradiction to the natural landscape. On one end, the pool even extends beyond the edge of the volcanic slope. It’s a clear statement that purity of form will not be compromised for to adapt to the topographical reality.

Villa AT

By Saunders Architecture, Kristiansand, Norway

Photos by Bent René Synnevåg and Saunders Architecture

This elegantly curving home overlooking a rocky coast in Kristiansand, Norway seems to echo the waves of the sea below by its free-flowing nature. The new pool that separates these two elements, however, presents a controlled contrast to the choppy water of the sea. It’s a peaceful, safe swimming area framed by weathered wood that satisfies the urge to bathe without the perils of unchecked nature.

XXXL’s House

By Brengues Le Pavec architects, France

Resting near the top of a hill in France, this new house takes advantage of the lot’s sloping angle to experiment with layering; from the house’s overlapping volumes to the stone walls guiding visitors down to it. As such, the house’s top floor acts like a belvedere overlooking the landscape further out. But right underneath it is the true surprise: a large tile-clad pool partly shaded by the diverse flora and from which visitors can continue enjoying the view in their bathing suits.

Meditation Pavilion & Garden

By GMAA – GM Architectes Associés, Geneva, Switzerland

For this new pavilion in Geneva, GMAA – GM Architectes Associés had envisioned a wooden volume gently hovering above a water surface. Their final project achieves this vision with a subtly integrated pool — more closely akin to a pond — that turns into a perfect mirror on windless days. As opposed to the natural ponds on the pavilions’ grounds, this artificial one is kept spotless; a pure and perfect counterpart to the surrounding nature, reflecting and emphasizing the beauty around.