Natural Swimming Pools & Garden Landscapes
Hampshire
Natural Pool
This contemporary natural swimming pool in Hampshire was designed and installed by Ellicar in collaboration with award-winning garden designer Helen Elks-Smith, as part of her wider landscape design for a modern new-build home.
The project is a beautiful example of how a natural swimming pool or swimming pond does not have to feel rustic, informal or heavily naturalistic. Natural, chemical-free water can sit just as comfortably within a clean, architectural garden as a conventional swimming pool.
Initially, the clients weren’t convinced that a natural pool was right for them. Their vision for the garden was clean, contemporary and architectural, and their preconception of a natural swimming pool was something much wilder and more naturalistic.
Working closely together, Helen Elks-Smith and Ellicar demonstrated that natural swimming pools can be contemporary, angular and highly architectural, while still providing all the benefits of completely chemical-free swimming water.
The finished pool combines crisp rectangular forms, carefully selected natural materials and biologically filtered water to create a contemporary swimming pool that complements the architecture of the house and the wider garden.
An important part of the design was positioning the pool close to the house. Because the water can be seen from inside the home throughout the year, choosing a natural swimming pool rather than a conventional chlorinated swimming pool offered a significant visual benefit.
Instead of looking out onto a swimming pool covered for much of the year, the clients enjoy an open body of water reflecting the sky, surrounding landscape and changing seasonal light.
This is one of the qualities we particularly love about natural pools: they are not simply places to swim during summer. They become permanent water features within the garden, adding movement, reflections, wildlife and atmosphere throughout every season.
The pool was intentionally designed with a minimal, contemporary aesthetic. Strong rectangular zones, crisp edges and restrained detailing create a distinctly architectural feel, while natural stone connects the swimming pool tonally with the cobbled pathways and material palette used elsewhere in the garden.
Decking was deliberately kept to a minimum, with subtle changes in level helping the pool settle naturally into the wider landscape.
Outdoor living spaces positioned around the water provide places for entertaining, lounging and relaxing beside the pool, making the water an integral part of everyday life in the garden rather than a separatere creational feature.
At the heart of the design is a generous 12m x 4m natural swimming pool swim zone, providing plenty of room for length swimming while also allowing a small group or family to swim and enjoy the water together.
The pool is lined in anthracite grey, a carefully selected liner colour that gives the water a lighter, contemporary appearance rather than the deeper tones often associated with a traditional natural swimming pond.
This helps demonstrate the versatility of modern natural pool design: the appearance of the water, materials, planting and surrounding landscape can all be tailored to suit the architecture and character of an individual property.
Access into the chemical-free water was designed to feel minimal and refined.
Natural stone coping is incorporated into the in-pool steps and submerged seating ledge, creating discreet access into the swimming zone alongside comfortable places to sit and enjoy the water.
A gently shelving swimming beach provides another easy and informal entrance into the pool. The shallow water also benefits from solar gain, naturally warming as it is exposed to the sun.
Together, the beach, steps and seating ledge create different ways to experience the water – from swimming lengths and cold-water swimming to simply sitting at the water's edge.
Materials were carefully chosen to complement both the contemporary architecture and the natural qualities of the garden.
The decking is constructed from Vastern Timber Brimstone Ash, using British ash sourced as a consequence of ash dieback in the UK. Its warm timber tones contrast beautifully with the water while creating a natural connection with the surrounding landscape.
The pool coping is Zahra Beige sandstone from Allgreen, creating a restrained, softly coloured edge to the pool that works harmoniously with the wider garden design.
Although this Hampshire pool has the clean appearance of a contemporary architectural swimming pool, the water itself is 100% chemical-free and biologically filtered.
Rather than relying on chlorine and conventional chemical water treatment, Ellicar natural swimming pools use specialist biological filtration to maintain clear, healthy swimming water.
The result is a chlorine-free swimming pool that offers a completely different swimming experience – water that feels natural against the skin, sits beautifully within the landscape and supports a more environmentally considered approach to outdoor swimming.
For the clients, the pool provides far more than a striking focal point for the garden. It creates opportunities for regular outdoor swimming, exercise, relaxation and the physical and mental wellbeing associated with spending time in and around natural water.
The finished Thackham project challenges one of the most common misconceptions surrounding natural swimming pools and swimming ponds: that choosing chemical-free water means choosing a wild or informal aesthetic.
Natural pool design can be minimal, contemporary, luxurious and architectural.
This Hampshire natural swimming pool combines the clean lines expected of a high-end contemporary swimming pool with the beauty of naturally filtered, chlorine-free water - creating a pool that works in harmony with the architecture, garden and landscape, and provides something beautiful to look at and enjoy 365 days a year.
If you have a question about our Gardens, Natural Swimming Pools or Landscaping, please feel free to get in touch.
