Today, I am wrapping up my Pool House project for Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The Smiths are a fictional family of four, husband Jason, wife Elizabeth, and two children, Aidan and Anna ages 8 and 10. They live in Mount Pleasant, SC which is a modern neighborhood on the outskirts of Charleston. The Smiths have a great house, and a beautiful swimming pool and were looking to build a poolhouse without breaking the bank. The Smith's realized that their proximity to the Charleston port offered them an affordable opportunity by repurposing a shipping container. The clients expressed need for:
- Covered living and dining space that could accomodate at least 4 people.
- A space for reading, and playing cards
- Views of the swimming pool
- An open and airy feel
- Additional storage
After building a 3-D model out of foam core to scale, we created a presentation board and today, we gave our presentation to the class. Whew, I was a bit nervous (just like my paint swatch color Nervy Hue.)
We've been working on this project since the beginning of the semester (so a little more than 2 months) and it feels good to have it under my belt. I've definitely learned a lot about traffic patterns, fenestrations, floor plans, elevations, cutting foam core, and what kind of rubber cement works best.
Here is a photo of the inside of my model with the double-sided fireplace. The fireplace is concrete and would be flanked by two pairs of 5 foot sliding glass doors.
Here is the exterior overhead shot of the shipping container
And here is the floor plan of the container.
This is the presentation board that features almost all of the elements in the container.
From top left you see a daybed made from pallets with a twin sized mattress covered in an indoor outdoor white twill. The daybed uses metal pipe and flanges to create the sides and backbar, and the bed is covered in an assortment of fabrics including the blue and white stripes, the small yellow and green chevron, a blue and green woven, and these two Trina Turk for Schumacher fabrics.
To the right of the daybed, you will see the two-way fireplace inspiration that I also mentioned in a previous post. The fireplace will be functional from both inside the poolhouse as well as outside and is one of the two key components to the pool house.
To the right of the fireplace is the custom ping-pong table that was inspired by the 2012 Coastal Living Ultimate Beach House, but the one for the pool house will be striped in white Sherwin Williams Dyanmic Blue and the bases will be Nervy Hue. The ping-pong table does double dutu as a dining table that can acommodate 8-10 seats including these foam primary poufs in blue and green that are perfect for a group of kids, and the adults can relax in these lightweight, but comfy, Kubrick chairs.
Beside the ping-pong table are the color swatches and our lighting and mirror. The mirror is from Roost, and has been made from old salvaged recycled scaffolding. The light fixture is by Zuo and will be used over the daybed as well as the reading nook.
Underneath the daybed are an assortment of fabrics that will be used for the daybed and for the cushions on the daybed and in the reading nook. The muti-striped fabric will be used as a curtain that can open and close giving the Smith children a hide-away space to read or play. The reading nook is a custom built-in that features low cabinets with doors (for storage) and a foam cushion that spans the width of the shipping container (7'7") and is covered in a small tonal green on yellow chevron fabric.
In the center of the board, you will see a photo of the 3-D model that shows the back of the shipping container and the fireplace as well as the ping-pong table. To the right of the photo are the fabric selections from Trina Turk. Directly below those fabric swatches are the flooring choices which include a concrete that is stained and stamped to look like wood (both inside the poolhouse as well as outside) and a rug that is used on either side of the indoor lounge spaces.
On the bottom row right side, is the oversized Knotted Melati Hanging Chair from Anthropologie. The design includes two of these on the exterior of the pool house so the Smith children won't argue over who gets to sit in them! Between the two swings is a lighted solar-powered side table that can also function as a seat. Beside the stool is another stool, the Prince Aha Stool in bright bold blue. There are a total of 5 of these stools that can be moved around from space to space to create additional seating. The stools are super fun and kid friendly and offer additional storage to boot! Then we have the Kubrick chair again-- a pair of these chairs are inside the poolhouse, and a pair are on the patio, but again, these chairs can be moved from zone to zone to create different seating arrangements. Between the two Kubrick chairs on the patio is a Prince Aha Stool used as a side table.
The very last picture on the bottom row is a standing height metal table by Quovis. We decided to customize the color of the table so we powder-coated it in Pantone's 2013 color of the year, Emerald Green. Beneath the table are two storage ottomans on casters from Ballard Designs. The ottomans are covered in the bold ikat print by Trina Turk. These ottomans can be pulled over to either of the lounge areas, or can be pulled up to enjoy the fire inside the poolhouse.
Look! Somebody else thought these Trina Turk fabrics would be perfect for a pool house!
Everyone in the class did such a great job designing, rendering and presenting their poolhouses. I was really surprised by how differently we all approached the design. Some poolhouses were really sophisticated, some were playful, some were eco-friendly and some people even cut their shipping containers into pieces and flipped them. There were some neat products as well. Tables that could be adjusted to three different heights, a storage cube that could turn into stools to seat 5 people, a cutout reading nook in the shape of an amoeba, tiles made from old skateboard decks and much, much more.
