Private pool
A sculpted rock surround for a private pool — the same craft as a theme park massif, at domestic scale and inside a lived-in garden.
- Site
- Private property, Algarve
- Scope
- Pool rockwork, waterfall
- Signature
- Local limestone reading
- Constraint
- Occupied house, garden access
The diary
The rock exists in steel long before it exists in stone. 01Phase 1Setting out and steelwork
The armature is built light enough to be carried through the garden, and tied into the existing pool structure.
Shotcrete is sprayed and shaped in the same movement. 02Phase 2Shotcrete
Our nozzlemen spray the shell in continuous passes, following the modelled surfaces. Thickness, reinforcement and drainage are controlled as the shape grows.
Texture is cut by hand, against the clock of the setting concrete. 03Phase 3Carving, wet
Carving follows the local limestone: rounded, sun-bleached, without theatrical fractures.
Buildings grow out of the rock, not in front of it. 04Phase 4Façades and details
Themed buildings, timber, plaster and ironwork are built into the same surface, so the architecture and the rock read as one set rather than as decor placed against a backdrop.
Water is tested full-scale before a single coat of paint. 05Phase 5Water, planting and integration
The waterfall is balanced by ear and eye with the pump running, before painting begins.
The last layer is the one that decides whether it looks real. 06Phase 6Painting and handover
Everything is hand-painted from the shadows outward — mineral washes, weathering, soot and lichen — then the site is cleaned, snagged and walked through with the client before opening.
