The addition of a small yet visually appealing pool, spa and landscaped space enhances home life for a Northern Beaches family.
For this Killarney Heights family of five with children ranging in age from 11 up to 22, their vision for a pool and spa was multi-faceted. Not only was it to be a place for them to gather with family and friends, the pool and spa also had to be visually appealing from inside their new house, fit into the small- to medium-sized garden, and be a stunning centrepiece.
The innovative design, brought to life by Nick McCarthy and the team at Urban Escape Landscaping and Pools, has been seamlessly integrated into the landscape. “Urban Escape designed the complete landscape on this new house, plus had some input on the home design,” explains Nick.
The result is a contemporary/geometric-style 7.5m-long pool fully tiled with glass mosaics and enhanced by limestone coping and paving, a water feature, spotted gum decking and a variety of tropical plants. Meanwhile, the spa has been incorporated to be both a feature and a functional element.
Although the enviable beaches of the area are not far away, there’s now no reason for this family to leave home to enjoy the relaxed Northern Beaches lifestyle — everything they need is in their backyard.
Urban Escape is a boutique company that has now been an integral part of Sydney’s landscaping and pool industry for more than 25 years. It offers a holistic approach to outdoor design, from consultation and design to council submissions, maintenance, landscaping construction as well as pool/spa construction, resulting in a seamless and stress-free process for clients.
The company prides itself on its personalised service, limiting its clientele to those in the Sydney metropolitan area, creating and renovating between 10 and 15 pools per year and going through a lengthy consultation process to achieve a comprehensive brief prior to design work.
Urban Escape began as a structural landscape company with a clear but simple vision of creating quality and stylish gardens to suit its clients’ needs. Owner Nick McCarthy holds a science degree in horticulture and landscape design, and shortly after starting a landscaping business he was inspired to become a licensed pool builder.
“There was a tendency to put pools where the client said without thinking it through, or even to just put it where it was easiest for the builder, rather than best for the outcome,” explains Nick. “That is essentially why I got into building pools — so I could be sure our pool was put in the best location. Sometimes an architect just draws a rectangle and that is it. A swimming pool is a big item and needs to be integrated and thought through so it works with the landscape.”
Urban Escape has been recognised for its quality workmanship and has received many awards, both local and national, for its pools and gardens.
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