Kiwis love warm weather and all that comes with it — time with family and friends, a few bevvies around the barby, a dip at the beach or, if you’re lucky enough, a backyard swimming pool. In some countries, having a house with a pool is commonplace, but in Aotearoa it is still a luxury item.
Depending on the style, size and materials used, installing a swimming pool can set you back about $60,000. However doing it properly is an investment, not a liability, according to John Honoré, of Executive Poolshop.
“A lot of pools that go in today are for the top end of the market — the baby boomers,” says John.
“The 50-plus is a big buyer. They have to bear in mind their grandchildren. Family and friends get together around swimming pools.”
For thousands of years people have enjoyed taking a dip in a public swimming pool and relics from the past are still visible today, albeit far away from New Zealand shores. Ancient Greeks used artificial pools for games, military exercises and exercise, while Roman emperors swam in private pools where fish were also kept. Centuries-old Roman baths still stand today in Bath, England, and public pools became popular in the United Kingdom during the 19th century.
Things have changed a bit since then though, with a greater choice of designs and materials, including concrete, fibreglass and plastic, for people to choose from to create their own aquatic sanctuary.
“The growth factor for swimming pools was in the 1970s,” says John. “Before that, very few people had a backyard pool.”
Whether it is a place for grandchildren to paddle or play, a relaxing haven for adults to immerse themselves and enjoy a bit of “me-time”, or a functional lap pool for the fitness conscious, pools can be purpose-built.
In the late 1970s and early 80s, free form or kidney-shaped pools were all the rage in private, resort and public pools. Designs have moved on since then, with rectangular-shaped pools coming to the fore because of their timeless style.
“Rectangular is a winner for most people because it doesn’t date,” says John. “If you go back to old Europe, all the old pools by the great landscapes of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries are elongated. Today, when you build a house it’s always got straight lines in it. That flows down to the swimming pool.”
Lap-pools, which are narrow and rectangular, are also gaining popularity in the pool market as their design suits people who plan to use it for fitness, rather than leisure. “Generally, pools are popular in as much that there are health benefits to having them,” says John. “But lap-pools are not really designed for a ball game with kids.”
Swim-jet pools for fitness, where bathers swim against a jet-propelled current of water, are becoming a good option for people with limited space.
Then, in the late 1980s, along came infinity pools with their stylish, seemingly edgeless sides where the water seems to blend into the distance.
“That’s what’s sweeping the world today, but it wasn’t until the 2000s that they really took off in a big way,” says John. “When you’re sitting down and looking out, the water is disappearing — the edge and the horizon appear to be one.
“They are very costly to build because of where the water goes over the side. The dearest infinity pool in New Zealand cost over a million dollars.”
While you may have good foundations in your pool design, the landscaping can be what makes it or breaks it style-wise. “Landscaping is very expensive,” says John. “It can be double what the pool costs.”
He says the “natural look” was the height of fashion in the 1980s, but these days customers are opting for a modern design. Clients often try to match the landscaping style with the décor in their homes, to maximise that indoor-outdoor flow. “It’s not like Liquorice Allsorts in the backyard,” laughs John.
“It is a short swimming season, but can be extended by heating your pool,” says John, who adds that solar heating, heat pumps and gas heating are commonly used to help make the water warm when the weather is not.
Indoor versus outdoor pools can be a tricky debate for would-be buyers, as cost is again a factor to consider. “An indoor pool will add at least $100,000 to a pool’s cost because you have to build a house over it,” says John. “You have to dehumidify as well.”
Through the years, people have become more proactive in researching what they want in a swimming pool.
“Before, they’d say ‘just build a pool and plonk it in the back garden’. But when they’re building today, many of them have been to an architect and have specific ideas about what they want,” says John.
“They have a wish list. It’s got to be functional and have everything in it to make it work.”
So, for Kiwis who love the water and can afford to build a pool, they are an investment worth their weight in gold — and worth taking the plunge for.
