'Million Dollar Pool Design' Finalists Announced

Organizers of the International Pool |Spa | Patio Expo recently announced five finalists for the Million Dollar Pool Challenge. The competition is designed to give pool and landscape designers, builders and outdoor living architects chance to design a project without the typical budgetary restraints.

Entrants were asked to create the ultimate oasis for a fictional couple with conflicting priorities like those often found in the real world.

“We are absolutely thrilled with how the industry has responded to this challenge,” said show director Tracy Garcia. “The quality of the submissions is incredible, and the number of people who have engaged with the challenge is astounding. We look forward to selecting a winner at this year’s PSP Expo and continuing the challenge in 2019.”

The PSP Expo team worked with esteemed designers Reid Schindler and Mike Farley and a panel of judges, including AQUA Senior Editor Eric Herman, to rank submissions. After several rounds of scoring, the following finalists emerged:

• Tanr Ross, Poolscapes LLC
• Alex Tyler, Alchemy Exteriors
• Cory Stanley, Decorative Pools & Landscape
• Rory Caton, Maria Del Bufalo and Jaime Verdeza, Heavenly Outdoor LLC
• Sridhar Yalmanchili, University of Oklahoma

The finalists will present their designs at the conference session on Wednesday, Oct. 31, at 9:15 a.m. Voting for the winning design will take place and a winner will be selected during the session. The winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize and will be invited to judge next year’s competition.