WATER FEATURES
Water features built into the shell: infinity edges, waterfalls and tanning ledges.
Infinity edges, sheer descents, rock and flagstone waterfalls, fountains and LED lighting, designed with the pool for homes in Fairfield and Westchester.
Infinity edges and sheer descents
An infinity edge lets the water run over one side of the pool so the surface appears to meet the view beyond it. A sheer descent does something quieter and more architectural: a clean, even sheet of water falls from a spout or wall into the pool below.
Both are structural decisions made early, because the shell, the plumbing and the grade around the pool all have to be set up for them. That is why we draw them in at the design stage of a new pool, and why a renovation that adds one needs its own planning.
One of our Fairfield County pools, pictured further down this page, lines up three stone-faced sheer descents along its wall with red flowers planted beside them.
Rock waterfall pouring into a swimming pool
Tanning ledges: the sunshelf and the baja bench
A tanning ledge is a shallow shelf built into the pool, called a sunshelf or a baja bench depending on who you ask. It gives you a place to lie in a few inches of water, set a chair in the pool or let children play without going into the deep end.
On the Suburban Paradise pool in Greenwich, a 20 x 50 foot rectangle that broke ground in December 2021 and finished in September 2022, the tanning ledge sits beside a built-in spa and an autocover hidden in the deck. The ledge is part of the shell, poured and shaped with it, not added afterward.
Waterfalls, fountains and LED lighting
Waterfalls come in natural rock, flagstone and spa spillovers, the last being the water that spills from a raised spa into the pool beside it. Rock and flagstone give the fall its character, and the stone choice follows the style of the yard around it.
Fountains add sound and movement, and LED pool lighting carries the pool into the evening. The Bridgeport showroom, laid out like a villa courtyard on the Amalfi coast of Italy, has working water features, finishes and lighting demos, so you can stand next to a feature that is running before you commit to it.
Water features sit alongside a shell built with 1/2-inch rebar and 5000 to 6000 PSI concrete. The structure holds the feature up, and the feature is only as good as what is under it.
Designed and built from the Bridgeport showroom at 153 Dewey Street, with working water features on display. CT HIC #0657548 · CT SP-1 #PLM.0259815 · CT SPB.0000314.
Feature index
Six ways to move water through a pool.
- Infinity edgeWater over one side of the pool.
- Sheer descentA clean sheet of water from a wall or spout.
- Tanning ledgeSunshelf or baja bench, built into the shell.
- WaterfallNatural rock, flagstone or a spa spillover.
- FountainJets and arcs for sound and movement.
- LED lightingPool lighting for after dark.
Water features are easiest to plan with the pool itself. See how the shell, the permits and the build sequence come together on the new pool construction page, then look through finished pools on the portfolio to see which features match your yard.