Editor's Note: This story first appeared under the title "Sinuosità minerale" in the Italian magazine, Piscine Oggi, by the editorial staff.
As if on display in a gallery, this sinuous work of the pool builder's art adorns the Bolognese hills of Monteveglio. Whether it is sculpture or just a pool depends on the eye of the beholder or the body of the bather. Beyond question, it is a Mediterranean oasis under the sun, and a meditation for those seeking higher forms.
It is also an intriguing concept for any high-end pool builder, and an exciting idea for clients who would be drawn to a pool you might find in model form on special exhibit at the Met.
This opening spread does not reveal the surrounding campagna; see the below photo for that and a true appreciation for the way the shape fits into the surrounding slopes and hollows of Valsamoggia, which is key to understanding its artistic achievement. This piece truly represents a builder's ideal: a harmonious combination of design and innovative construction technology with low environmental impact. The excavation was relatively minimal; the materials are, to a large extent, sand.
In broad strokes, a lot of features work together to create this piece, starting with the contours and curves which appear so very natural. There are different levels that provide an infinite variety of seating and lounging opportunities, stylish and restrained boulder outcroppings which provide a base for lighting and poolside controls, and a lush grassy edge.
In the United States, we're used to shells constructed with some kind of heavy structural support combined with an impermeable finish. This one was built without the use of concrete castings, gunite, plaster, vinyl or PVC — just the fiber-reinforced mineral coating formed by IdroCon Solidified Sand (see pages 38-39). Thanks to its mineral and silica nature and bonding agent, it provides a waterproof surface which, according to adherents, hinders the proliferation of algae, reduces chemical usage, resists the deleterious effects of weather, and lowers overall maintenance costs.
As there is no concrete, resins or plastics used in the shell construction, the company that built it, NeoGeo, can legitimately market the pool to environmentally conscious customers as natural.
The shape of the pool came to life from an "artisanal" modeling of the ground: As you can see, it's simply a waterproofed, shaped excavation, covered with a thin mineral coating. With the backing in place, the IdroCon Solidified Sand surface is only 20 millimeters (about three quarters of an inch) thick. Unique, gradual descents begin almost at the grassy edge, then turn into pleasant shorelines, dropping down into naturally formed seats for hydromassage, shaping areas of different depths, finally descending to the bottom of the pool at a depth of 6 feet (1.80 meters).
The visual appeal of the surface is obvious from these excellent, detailed photos. The tactile impression made from touching the product is similar to stone with a non-slip grip. It's solid, but flexible thanks to its fiber-reinforced structural support, and thus, can adapt to small settlements of soil.
On close inspection, the unique surface color is achieved by light and dark particles in the quartz sands present in the IdroCon material: The natural white of the dry beach transitions to the pinkish white of the shoreline. The light color creates a clean sharp contrast between the pool and the grass and the reclaimed tile flooring of the house's porch, but most stunningly it provides a subtle parade of color from shadow to light, crystal clear in the shallows to aquamarine at depth.
In creating the exact contours of the front slope, the flowing steps, and the basin, the area was excavated and then built up with soil compacted into small layers, 8 inches thick, overlapping each other until the desired level or shape was obtained.
As of the writing of this story, two years after construction, it has held up well. The surface settled about 1.5 inches on one corner of the overflow edge, without the appearance of any cracks in the overall 242-square-meter (2600-square-foot) pool/deck unitary structure.
Scenic Up is the Italian manufacturer of IdroCon, the material used for the shell of this pool. The company, based in Bologna, is the parent of NeoGeo, a builder dedicated to low environmental impact pools and hot tubs and the author of this artistic pool.
NATURAL SKIN
The client wanted a free-form, lagoon-type pool with infinity overflow, a large beach area, stairways and a surge tank below. The solution offered by NeoGeo was a waterproofed, shaped excavation, covered with IdroCon Solidificata Sand, a patented "thin skin" coating with exceptional flexibility. Under the skin were placed 9 overlapping layers of inorganic mineral products placed sequentially, with structural nets inside made of silica fibers of variable size that reach up to 5 centimeters (2 inches) in length.
The skin itself is a mineral coating composed of selected silica sands bonded with calcite-based products, reinforced with alkaline resistant silica fibers. Impermeability is guaranteed by belite, an industrial mineral used in Portland cement. Its main constituent is dicalcium silicate, Ca2SiO4. It has a self crack-healing property, in which it forms thousands of silica crystals capable of filling any porosity or crack, until the passage of water ceases. The coating creates a solid but flexible lining, just 20 millimeters (¾ inches) thick, capable of adapting to any small settling of the ground without suffering damage.
Work on the swimming pool, which began in September 2019, came to a halt due to the lockdown, and was also postponed during hot summer months as temperatures soared above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The high temperatures are not ideal for the use of calcite and silicate-based materials such as IdroCon Solidified Sand (in the presence of direct radiation, for example, the material can dehydrate quickly and be difficult to work with). This problem was circumvented with the use of portable shade structures that allowed the work to continue to completion.
