Making the Connection: Getting from point A to point B is simple?EUR??,,????'????EUR??,,????'???just add water.

By Jenny Boyle, regional editor

The original concept for this lap pool had a more contemporary feel and included a vanishing pool with a glass wall as the weir. When Kinman stepped in, he stressed the importance of making a connection between the home?EUR??,,????'???s architecture and the landscape. He extended the base plane of the home and created a new lap pool design around a foundation wall that had already been poured to house a generator for the home.

Taking on a job that someone else has started can be a trying experience if they?EUR??,,????'???ve done things differently than you would have. But sometimes, the rewards at the end are so great it?EUR??,,????'???s worth the hassle of retracing a step or two. A little more than two years ago, Gary Kinman received a call from a longtime client that brought him, what he says, was the job of his dreams?EUR??,,????'????EUR??,,????'??? even though he didn?EUR??,,????'???t get to work from scratch.

The call came from the owners of an Ohio residence. They had recently finished construction on a three-story addition to their home and were working with a landscape architect from Connecticut to develop their backyard area. The home rested on a hill that sloped significantly at the back of the house. As a result of the topography, the family swimming pool had originally been built down the hill from the house and required a car trip just to get to it. With the home?EUR??,,????'???s expansion, the owners wanted to extend their back yard area as well.

The landscape architect?EUR??,,????'???s original concept included the addition of a rather contemporary lap pool that was very close to the base of the home. He also added a vault that would house a generator for the home.

But as the beginning foundation walls were being poured, the owners began to feel apprehensive. That?EUR??,,????'???s when they turned to Kinman for help.

 

A series of retaining walls and staircases leading out from a terrace at the base of the home, connect several small pools and an overlook in between the house and the original pool. Tumbled stone and brick were used extensively to carry the home?EUR??,,????'???s architecture out through the rest of the site.

?EUR??,,????'??The client felt uneasy with the design,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??There was a big separation between the designer and the construction team and I could see that mistakes had already been made.?EUR??,,????'??

Kinman, who teams up with his wife, Cynthia, on most projects, was excited to have the opportunity to work on such a large design. As a horticulturist, Cynthia handles the plant design, while Kinman sticks to the hardscape elements of the landscapes they create. When they visited the site, they saw a disconnect between the existing architecture and the surrounding land. They made it their goal to bring the massive home down to scale and utilize the space in a way that would complement its traditional look.

?EUR??,,????'??We totally re-did the design of the pool to create a more classic-looking connection,?EUR??,,????'?? says Kinman, a landscape designer and founder of the Kinman Institute. ?EUR??,,????'??A foundation wall had already been poured, so we had to work the design of the lap pool around that. It was a limiting factor.?EUR??,,????'??

The existing pool laid 45 feet below the space right outside the back of the home. Kinman planned to refurbish that swimming pool and add a series of smaller pools that would lead from a backyard terrace down to the rest of the property?EUR??,,????'????EUR??,,????'???something the homeowners had never even considered.

Before the three-story addition and subsequent landscaping, the way to get to the existing family pool (at the bottom of the picture) was to take a short car ride down a small road on the property.

?EUR??,,????'??We tried to get the client to see the importance of extending the architecture,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??To be honest, everything boils down to the site and architecture. Design isn?EUR??,,????'???t being creative. Design is really intention. What do we want to accomplish? The intention here was to make the back usable and tied together. The client didn?EUR??,,????'???t even think that was possible.?EUR??,,????'??

To make a connection between the upper and lower levels of the backyard, Kinman developed what he basically describes as ?EUR??,,????'??an extremely elaborate retaining wall and stairway system,?EUR??,,????'?? that would connect the various pools to one another.
?EUR??,,????'??The scale was very large,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??The house is so big that you?EUR??,,????'???re fighting this overwhelming feeling.?EUR??,,????'??

Kinman extended the base plane of the home and drew from the existing architecture to create the new hardscape in a way that would make the entire structure ?EUR??,,????'??seem cozy.?EUR??,,????'?? He says he uses these same principles whether a home is modest
or extravagant.

?EUR??,,????'??The bigger you get, the bigger everything else gets,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??No matter if you?EUR??,,????'???re viewing the home from down below, or up above, the structure doesn?EUR??,,????'???t overwhelm because everything is on the same scale.?EUR??,,????'??

The Dominant Element

When Kinman took over the job, he had to design around what the previous contractors had already started building. The foundation wall for the vault had already been built, so he began his work from there. He drew a terrace out from the back doors of the home and created steps that seamlessly lead down into the lap pool. A spa and another small pool sit like bookends at either side. The owners had designated the terrace as an area to showcase some of their art and Kinman found an appropriate place for one piece in the small pool opposite the spa. A sculpture depicting the frog prince and the princess was set atop a ?EUR??,,????'??lily pad?EUR??,,????'?? that Kinman designed to look like it was floating.

The original idea for a lap pool came from the client?EUR??,,????'???s architect, who thought it would be a great addition to home gym. When Kinman got hold of the idea, he knew it would have a lot of impact as far as the space it would take up. It spans 42 feet across, 12 feet at each end, and reaches 16 feet wide at its apex. The steps were included to act as seating.

?EUR??,,????'??The sculpture was actually the first thing they showed us,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??They wanted a spa and we got the idea of the opposing pool.?EUR??,,????'??

He used a piece of weathered rock and propped it up on stone posts that were secured to the bottom of the small pool. Then, he covered the entire area with Pebbletech pebble pool finish and filled it with water.

?EUR??,,????'??It?EUR??,,????'???s very difficult to see anything supporting the sculpture,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. Traveling down to the next level, Kinman added three spillways on the lap pool that flow down into a smaller sump pool below. He included a bench that allows people to sit beneath the waterfalls there. The sump pool is accessed by the first set of stairs that wrap around from the terrace. To create pedestrian access to the existing swimming pool, Kinman designed symmetrical staircases on either side of the large retaining wall that gently lead down to that elevation.

?EUR??,,????'??The pool was the dominant element that was going to get the most attention,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??There was existing granite around the pool that had to be lifted up and replaced and we added retaining walls around it to tie it in with the rest of the architecture. We wanted it to feel like the rest of the project.?EUR??,,????'?? He says the most challenging part of the design was all the detail. ?EUR??,,????'??The conceptual job was not that big of a thing,?EUR??,,????'?? he explains. ?EUR??,,????'??Specifying was the difficult part.?EUR??,,????'??

Three weirs allow water to run down into a small sump pool fitted with a bench. When the system is turned on, the two pools act as one, as water circulates from the bottom to the top. When the system is off, the two pools are designed to act as independent units.

The client had asked Kinman to build his design and he says being on site the entire time made all the difference in how it came to fruition. He was able to receive the different materials as they arrived and schedule the progress of the build in an efficient way, which was very important since they were on a deadline to have the entire project completed.

?EUR??,,????'??It was unbelievable how seamlessly things fit together,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??We were done with our conceptual design in May [2003], detailing in July, we started the job in August and we were 100 percent complete by June of 2004.?EUR??,,????'?? Just in time for a big birthday bash the owners were throwing that month.

A Unique Solution

But don?EUR??,,????'???t let his timeliness fool you. Kinman had his share of challenges when it came to completing the project. Because of the short deadline, his crew was forced to work through what turned out to be a really cold winter.

?EUR??,,????'??Sometimes a foot of ice covered the grounds,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??We couldn?EUR??,,????'???t use salt to melt it because we didn?EUR??,,????'???t want to ruin the plants.?EUR??,,????'??

So Kinman came up with the idea to tent the entire area they were constructing. He bought a big, 80 square foot cattle fence and covered it with a giant piece of fiberglass-reinforced plastic. With the help of a propane heater, the entire piece of plastic blew up like a hot air balloon and created a warm space for the crew to work under.

?EUR??,,????'??Everyone was waiting around to see me fail,?EUR??,,????'?? laughs Kinman. ?EUR??,,????'??But it worked! It looked like Jiffy-pop popcorn. We put a post up in the center and it stayed up for almost twelve weeks.?EUR??,,????'??

To make this sculpture look as if it was floating on water, Kinman used a weathered piece of rock and propped it up with stone posts. The empty 8?EUR??,,????'??? x 8?EUR??,,????'??? pool and posts were then covered with Pebbletech. When the pool is filled with water, the supports are barely visible.

Aside from dealing with the harshness of winter, Kinman had to find a way to get huge machinery to the secluded home. ?EUR??,,????'??It was very, very difficult to get equipment in and out, but we did it,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??We built temporary roads in and out of the site to create access, and we built storage areas for materials. It was one of those things that it you stayed on top of it, it never got away from you.?EUR??,,????'??

A Cohesive Design

Kinman says the clients were intimately involved in every aspect of the design.
?EUR??,,????'??We traveled all over with them, picking out plants and getting ideas. We went to some unbelievably cool places,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??You fantasize about a client wanting to do that.?EUR??,,????'??
They relentlessly searched for just the right materials, posing for pictures with plants they felt might work for their gardens, and seeking out world-class artisans to bring Kinman?EUR??,,????'???s details to life.

?EUR??,,????'??We were flying in masons from Mexico and Italy to work with the marble, and we had the best stone layers I?EUR??,,????'???ve ever seen in my life,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??It was truly an amazing orchestration of unbelievably bigger than life things happening. The ability to conceive it and then have a client that says do it?EUR??,,????'???it?EUR??,,????'???s every designer?EUR??,,????'???s dream.?EUR??,,????'??

The finally result achieves the ?EUR??,,????'??cozy?EUR??,,????'?? feeling Kinman was striving for. The walls and staircases allow people to easily access all pool areas without going for a drive, and the hardscape falls right in line with the rest of the architecture.

Kinman says that when all was said and done, he fell into a sort of ?EUR??,,????'??post-landscape depression.?EUR??,,????'?? ?EUR??,,????'??I was the job and the job was me,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??I had an overwhelming connection to it.?EUR??,,????'??He had immensely enjoyed designing that project and he was sure there wouldn?EUR??,,????'???t be one like it again.

?EUR??,,????'??You always think, ?EUR??,,????'??this is the last awesome job,?EUR??,,????'????EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??But there?EUR??,,????'???s always another one.?EUR??,,????'??

Indeed, there was another one. Shortly after Kinman had finished up with this project, the homeowners called him back with good news. They had purchased the property next door and had asked Kinman to design a land bridge between the two properties out of more brick and stone.

?EUR??,,????'??It?EUR??,,????'???s an honor and a blessing,?EUR??,,????'?? he says.