Water Wonderland

Shedding Light on Backyard Showcase Lends Beauty

By Lauren Beth, Sanderson & Associates

Lighting gracefully enhances the thoughtful planning and detail of the gazebo. A harmonious combination of uplighting and downlighting captures the key design features and protects the scene from the neighboring visual elements.
Photos courtesy of Robert Pederson, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives

It wasn?EUR??,,????'???t quite like running down the steps on Christmas morning, but Robert Pedersen probably felt a similar tinge of excitement when brothers Mike and Mark Shoemaker told Pedersen of their plans for Mark?EUR??,,????'???s backyard in Birmingham, Ala.

Owners of Shoemaker Pools, the brothers had collaborated with Pedersen, who owns Outdoor Lighting Perspectives in Birmingham, on about 10 to 20 earlier projects. Now, after doing some renovations to his house, Mark wanted to do the same to the backyard of his family home in Greystone, a gated community.

The yard was being scrapped and redone, with a new 16-by-32 foot pool replacing an existing one and serving as a showplace for the brothers?EUR??,,????'??? work. They tapped Pedersen and Outdoor Lighting Perspectives, headquartered in Matthews, N.C., to do the lighting. For the 33-year-old Pedersen, who along with his wife, Lani, has operated his OLP business since October 2000, having the opportunity to work with a blank slate was exciting.

?EUR??,,????'??They wanted to build a showplace to show off what they do,?EUR??,,????'?? Pedersen said. ?EUR??,,????'??I had a lot of freedom to do what I wanted. It was a neat project from that aspect.?EUR??,,????'??

Silver by day and golden by night, the dancing trees and pool of light warm the rocks around the cascade. Delicately uplit river birches add fuller dimension to a visually rich scene.

Mike Shoemaker oversees design and installation for Shoemaker Pools. He was the primary force behind his brother?EUR??,,????'???s backyard makeover, but also collaborated with a landscape architect, according to Pedersen. The end result is striking. The pool is framed by a stucco wall that surrounds the entire yard. It lends a refined backdrop to the pool itself, which is framed by a pool deck comprised of simple brick pavers. At one end of the pool sits a copper-roofed gazebo, supported by four columns with a solitary stone table underneath, lending a classic, striking feel to the area.

Besides the pool and gazebo, other focal points attract the eye, especially at night when the entire backyard is illuminated in the soft glow of the estimated 35 lighting fixtures that Pedersen installed. In one corner, graceful river birches draw one?EUR??,,????'???s attention to a tree canopy, enhanced by Bradford pear trees, that provides a beautiful framing effect to the entire back of the yard. And along the far side of the pool a Japanese maple sits alongside decorative crane sculptures that spit water into the pool. On the yard?EUR??,,????'???s back wall, centered at the pool?EUR??,,????'???s midpoint, is a wall fountain that provides a calming effect above a patch of fountain grass.

When the entire yard is illuminated at night, a beautiful reflection is captured by the pool. That?EUR??,,????'???s because the sides and floor of the pool are black, made possible by a pigment added to the gunite used in construction.

?EUR??,,????'??It lends a very cool look to the pool,?EUR??,,????'?? said Pedersen. ?EUR??,,????'??You don?EUR??,,????'???t see many of those kind of pools. It doesn?EUR??,,????'???t draw that much attention to itself and that probably helps with the reflection. It makes the water look deep, dark and mysterious.?EUR??,,????'??

Because the pool was a showcase of sorts, the aim of Pedersen?EUR??,,????'???s lighting design was to lend a dramatic flair to the entire project. ?EUR??,,????'??That?EUR??,,????'???s what I was going after,?EUR??,,????'?? Pedersen said. ?EUR??,,????'??Low-voltage lighting is fairly subtle, but the yard had so many strong points that I knew lighting was going to make it look even better. I wanted it to have some pizzazz and I believe it does.?EUR??,,????'??

The durable copper fixtures adequately light the walkways without distracting the eye from important focal points.

Pedersen was afforded the luxury of doing his wiring as the project took shape, a convenience which allowed him the flexibility to position lighting for maximum impact and minimal interference.

Wiring was laid beneath the pavers on the pool deck and in the gazebo. Two lights shine down on the front columns of the gazebo, lending a soft wash and serving to highlight the columns themselves. Hidden rope lighting along the interior roof of the gazebo gives the entire edifice a soft glow. Wiring was run inside the stucco wall near a patio deck so fixtures could be attached.

?EUR??,,????'??This was a unique project because we had enough time to incorporate the fixtures into the plans,?EUR??,,????'?? Pedersen said. ?EUR??,,????'?? I was able to do my pricing based on day-time observations. No lighting demonstration was given beforehand.?EUR??,,????'??

The architectural accents of the gazebo, so well defined here in natural light, are cast with a warm glow of rope light hidden in the structure to bring out those lines from the nighttime shadows.

A variety of fixtures were used in the project. Half-moon, copper deck lights were used on the raised patio and solid copper path lights were installed in flower beds alongside a walking path between the house and pool. A mini copper floodlight illuminates the Japanese maple which sits close to the ornamental cranes. An underwater light spotlights the wall fountain. The remaining fixtures consist of approximately 18 standard well lights.

Though it does serve as a privacy wall, Pedersen said the light-colored stucco wall that surrounds the property greatly added to the effectiveness of his lighting plan. By highlighting the wall?EUR??,,????'???s columns with well lights, the effect gives a strictly defined perimeter to the yard as a whole.

All lighting fixtures used at this Birmingham, Ala. residence were 12-volt lights. The durable materials in construction made them favorable to cast aluminum fixtures.

?EUR??,,????'??A perimeter can be defined with light,?EUR??,,????'?? Pedersen said. ?EUR??,,????'??If the walls were not there, we would have needed to light something. It sometimes is tricky to find balance in a yard if there is nothing there.

But when you?EUR??,,????'???ve got so much going on in a small place like the Shoemaker?EUR??,,????'???s did, you don?EUR??,,????'???t have to worry about such things.?EUR??,,????'??

At night, please imagine, well lights illuminate the columns of the stucco wall that surrounds the property, highlight the bronze cranes, and draw out the delicate features of the Japanese maples.

By highlighting each individual column, Pedersen gained some unexpected benefits. ?EUR??,,????'??We had talked about lighting the tree canopy from the back of the fence to highlight it, but by simply lighting the columns we got the best of both worlds. We put light on the tree canopy, plus we were able to show off that expensive fence,?EUR??,,????'?? Pedersen said with a laugh.

The wall design chosen for the project also made Pedersen?EUR??,,????'???s job an easy one. ?EUR??,,????'??If they had chosen brick columns with a wrought-iron fence in between it would have looked good, but the lighting wouldn?EUR??,,????'???t have had the same effect it does now,?EUR??,,????'?? Pedersen said. ?EUR??,,????'??Light goes through the railings of a wrought-iron fence and you also see what is on the other side. The Shoemaker?EUR??,,????'???s wall made the backyard.?EUR??,,????'??

The project?EUR??,,????'???s lighting cost was approximately $6,000. The majority of fixtures used were manufactured by Nashville, Tenn.-based B&B Manufacturing, the primary supplier of fixtures to OLP. Others were manufactured by Focus Landscape Lighting of Lake Forest, Calif. All were 12-volt lights and the durable materials used in construction make them favorable to cast aluminum fixtures, which are prone to deterioration. The well lights are simply constructed with PVC, aluminum and brass. The copper fixtures are also well-regarded, according to Pedersen.

?EUR??,,????'??The great thing about copper is that it?EUR??,,????'???s durable,?EUR??,,????'?? Pedersen said. ?EUR??,,????'??It lasts forever and it always looks good. Many of the homes we do have a copper accent of some sort, so the lights are a great complement.?EUR??,,????'??

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives has 48 locations across the United States. Pedersen completed approximately 100 installations in 2003 assisted by two full-time installers. Although the Shoemaker project was a fairly large-scale project, Pedersen said an average homeowner spending about $2,500 can get a first-rate, front-yard lighting system installed, some for even less, depending on the project.

?EUR??,,????'??You can have a great looking job even after everything is done,?EUR??,,????'?? Pedersen said. ?EUR??,,????'??A lot of times, it?EUR??,,????'???s not necessary for the lighting contractor to be there when a project is being completed, but there are some projects where it is an advantage.?EUR??,,????'??

This copper, wall-mounted fixture provides ample light for the steps at night while remaining inconspicuous by day.