Main Picture Above: This award winning pool shows the impact a view can make. But to get maximum use of your pool, exposure to the sun is even more important. This winning pool looks out over a magical river scene.

Swimming Pools With Strong Views

What sort of a view do you have from your swimming pool? Whether you can see the sea, mountains, a green park, or a colourful flower bed in your own backyard, it’ll pay you to make the best of your pool view.

How to Plan Your Pool With a View

Planning and designing new swimming pools should take time and a lot of thought. A pool is a permanent and relatively costly structure which can immediately increase the value of your property, often substantially. To protect your investment, it must be well designed, thoughtfully positioned and properly built and maintained.

Consider Location

Before you start building, a vital consideration will be the best location for your pool.

As designs have become more and more imaginative and attractive, the trend has been to site the pool near to the house rather than somewhere at the bottom of the garden. This follows the typical predisposition so many of us have for an indoor-outdoor lifestyle.

Of course, if you have a view from your house or patio, you can exploit this by building a pool with strong views. Whether it faces over the sea, towards the mountains or even simply overlooks a pretty garden, make the best of your pool by positioning it so swimmers get the benefit of your own unique view.

How to Make the Best of Your Pool 

We have chosen a cross-section of the photographs to illustrate some of the many possibilities and show that capturing a compelling view does not mean you will lose privacy. Be inspired to make the best of your pool!

Award-winning Pool Above the Ocean

Positioned to maximize all possible view opportunities, this amazing swimming pool in Llandudno on the Atlantic Sea coast of Cape Town, South Africa is one of a kind. A gold award winner in the National Spa & Pool Institute (NSPI) Western Cape, it was designed and built by Ray Pardoe.

Larger than life, the pool measures 50ft x 17ft (15m x 5m). It sits high above the ocean, and the builders were able to successfully create the illusion when swimming, that you are actually in the sea.

The pool is raised above ground level and features a flush deck (or spillway) which forces the water to spill over the side of the pool into a collection channel with a protective stainless steel grate. The pool is lined with light blue glass fiber and there is an attractive blue ceramic mosaic on the walls.

For safety’s sake, the sea-facing edges of the pool are protected by frameless glass panes. It’s a very clever way to make the best of your pool with a strong, beautiful view.

Chip-Tile Pool Alongside a River

The pretty chip-tile pool above overlooks a wide river making the best of a very special view. The sandstone surround, and charcoal grout between the tiles, give the pool a natural feel. The rim-flow feature creates the impression that the water flows down into the river.

Pool in a Rural Setting

Not quite as close to the water beyond, this pool features a picturesque view of the distant hills.

It is a one-piece molded fiberglass pool that is 225 sq ft (21 sq m) in size. It has a natural sandstone surround.

Make the Best of Your Pool With a Bird’s Eye View

Suspended more than 13 ft (4 meters) above the ground, this amazing rim-flow pool has a wonderful bird’s eye-view of the suburbs stretching to the horizon.

Only 13 ft x 10 ft (4m x 3m) in size, it is built with reinforced concrete and features a remote controlled pump, motor, heat pump and lights. Black slate tiles clad the outside of the structure, while a 2in x 2in (50mm x 50mm) slate mosaic is laid under a stainless steel rim inside the pool, at the top of the walls.

This is an excellent way to make the best of your pool even if it doesn’t have such a stunning view.

Pool With a View of the City

A dream pool with a magnificent view. This is a renovation of an older pool and involved raising the pool about a story higher than it was before. Glass safety panels allow those using the pool to see amazing views at water level while swimming against a jet of water produced by a counter-stream swim-unit.

The pool is heated and has spa jets built into the steps on the left hand side.

The pool as it was at the start of the renovation.

The pool construction company used the existing pool floor as a base when they started building the new pool. A complex arrangement of shuttering was used to redefine the shape of the pool, which was then cast in concrete.

After the counter-stream pump, spa jets, heater and pump systems were installed, it was glass fiber-lined.

Pool With a View of the Sea

Built on a small property just above the beach, about 161 sq ft (15 sq m) in size, this fan-shaped swimming pool was designed to capture an infinity view over the beach, extending into the Atlantic Ocean.

The inside of the pool is lined with blue mosaic tiles which add visual impact and mirror the colors of the sea. These tiles were fixed with a special epoxy material suitable for use under water, and which would withstand long-term contact with water chemicals. The pool is surrounded with a wooden deck made from balau hardwood, and the outside of the rim-flow channel, clad with pale, cut sandstone.

The rim-flow design, which creates the impression you are swimming in the sea, incorporates an existing retaining wall, and uses a fail-safe system of non-return valves. The water is warmed with a heat pump.

These are all features you might want to consider if you want to make the best of your pool.

How to Make the Best of Your Pool When You Can See Forever

On a clear day you can see forever from this well-sculpted, stylish pool.

Set on a hill, the view stretches over the suburbs below to a sweeping coastline and the distant mountains. A gunite structure, plain and simple in shape, the pool features a spillway (or spillover) on three sides, which allows the water to flow over the rim of the pool and into a collection channel below.

For those sitting on the good-looking, sandstone sun deck (at a lower level than this picture was taken), the water appears to flow directly into the distant ocean. The pool was finished with white marble plaster which makes the water appear sparkling clear and blue.

Make the Best of Your Pool With a Window on the World

The elevated position of this unusual 26 ft x 13 ft (8m x 4m) pool provides swimmer’s with a panoramic, elevated view. It features 2.2in (58mm) thick glass windows in one wall and a 10.5 ft (3,2m) high rimflow on two sides.

Building this pool was a huge challenge as all materials had to been carried up the steep gradient by hand. These included 1100 lbs (500 kg) of steel, 4200 lbs (900 kg) of Marblite, 3300 lbs (1500 kg) of cement and 140 cu ft (4 cu m) of sand. But then, you sometimes have to go the extra mile or more to make the best of your pool.

Life’s a Beach in This Pool

This hotel swimming pool has captivating views of the beach with sub-tropical palms. The pool is just over 215 sq ft (20 sq m) in size and it has a rim-flow across the full length of one side.