Swimming Pool Enclosure considerations
One of the uses of conservatories that are becoming increasingly popular these days is that of an enclosure for a swimming pool. A beautifully designed and constructed glass building can make for one of the most distinctive pool houses one could imagine. There are many wonderful historical examples of conservatories that you could easily see enclosing an elegant swimming pool or indoor spa.
However, as enticing an idea as this is, there are certain issues that must be considered if the project is to be successful and these should be addressed as early in the design process as possible as they can have a substantial impact on the way that the finished room will look and function.
For now, I’d like to talk about the heating, cooling and humidity control systems, in the trades known as the HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) system. The scale of the system that will be required to adequately handle the needs of a swimming pool enclosure usually will require substantial equipment and ductwork.
We recently designed an ornate “old-world conservatory” for a swimming pool enclosure on a new home near Detroit, Michigan. The duct work for the system was sized by the company providing the HVAC. One of the components that they specified was 30” diameter supply air pipes arranged in two rows around the perimeter of the roof cupola. One was to move the air up into the roof and the other down into the main part of the room. This was a very appropriate solution from a strictly functional perspective.
The problem was that ductwork of that size and at that location was going to be very hard to “conceal” in our “Old-World” conservatory design. The good news was that we knew the requirements in advance so that we could use some creativity to figure out how to incorporate these elements into the whole design without destroying the effect we were trying to achieve.
Next time… “The Ten Most Common Mistakes When Building an Indoor Swimming Pool Enclosure”.