Rhinefield · 2021 · Indoor pool and pool house
The Pool House
A green oak pool house with heat recovery and quiet ventilation, so the family can swim every morning of the year.
The project
- Location
- Rhinefield, New Forest
- Pool
- 12 × 4 m, 1.2 to 1.5 m deep
- Building
- Green oak frame, clay tile roof
- Heating
- Heat recovery and air-source
- Air
- Quiet dehumidification
- On site
- 26 weeks
- Finished
- March 2021
A family of five who wanted to swim every morning of the year, including the dark ones in January.
An indoor pool is only as good as the air around it. We designed the building and the pool together, so the dehumidifier, heat recovery and ventilation are part of the frame rather than boxes added afterwards.
The green oak frame was cut by a joiner in Ringwood and raised in four days. Tall doors fold back along the whole south side, so in summer the pool opens straight onto the lawn and feels like an outdoor pool with a roof.
How we built it
A pool house you can breathe in
Pool and building as one
We drew the pool, frame and plant room as a single design, so every duct and pipe has a place before the oak is cut.
Heat that goes round again
Warm, damp air from the pool hall is drawn off, its heat recovered and put back into the water and the room.
No echo, no smell
Lime plaster between the oak soaks up sound and moisture, and the water is treated with UV, so the hall never smells of chlorine.
Begin here
Start with a walk round the garden
A first visit is free and unhurried. We’ll look at the light, the levels and the trees, and tell you honestly what’s possible.