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From concept render to finished build: how a design becomes a yard
Most people can't picture a finished yard from a patch of grass or an old slab, and they shouldn't have to. A concept design puts the yard in front of you before anything is dug. At Mission Bay that concept was a render of a round pool on a new Kwila deck, and it's the clearest example we have of what a render actually does.
Four jobs at a glance
Mission Bay: we designed the deck and the pool placement, with drawings and design visuals, before the build.
One Tree Hill: the client couldn't picture what would fit in a small front yard. It was built to Kevin's original plan from start to finish, with nothing changed along the way.
Herne Bay: we drew the render before a concrete fireplace came out and a plunge pool went in.
Meadowbank: we did the original 3D concept. The final design came from a design studio, and we built to it.
Mission Bay: the idea was the pool
The clients started with the pool. They wanted somewhere for the kids to have fun and play, and a yard that could take an above-ground pool. What they had was a flat back yard with an old, broken concrete slab along the back of the house.
We designed the deck and where the pool would sit, and gave them drawings and design visuals of it. In Kevin's words, the visuals are what helped them see the concept, "and sell the job I believe".
What the design had to settle
A render looks like a picture, but most of what it settles is heights.
The deck is 6 m by 4 m, with a 5 m by 1 m return along the house that joins the existing entry deck, so every door now opens onto one surface that leads to the pool. That only works if the new deck matches the house access levels and the existing deck exactly.
Under the pool is a round concrete slab, 3.4 m across and raised about 400 mm, set 90 mm below the deck. That leaves the pool standing 1,210 mm above the deck. Kevin's own summary of what the job came down to: assessing the site, getting the heights right to connect the old deck and the new one and match the house, and making sure the pool height above the deck is right for compliance.
Pool barrier. At Mission Bay the pool wall itself acts as the barrier, with no permanent access to the rim, so nothing separate was consented. Which applies to your site is settled before we quote.
From the screen to the ground
The curve on the render had to become a real curve on site. A board was bolted to the concrete slab to find the exact centre of the pool, a tape was secured to it, and a perfect circle was drawn from there. The framing was cut to the circle first, then the decking.
The deck was finished before the pool arrived. The shell came on a flatbed truck and the crew carried it in by hand; these pools are light enough for a strong crew. In Kevin's words, "the pool fit like a glove in the new space."
3 weeks on site
The clients' Google review puts it their own way: "They sorted everything for us on time, within the agreed budget and the end result was amazing."
One Tree Hill: a plan that didn't change
The front yard at One Tree Hill was a small patch of grass with a trampoline on it. The first question at the site visit wasn't what the client wanted in it, it was whether anything could fit at all. The brief was a pool and a family entertaining space, both, in one small footprint.
The plan had five real constraints to fit around: powerlines over the street that ruled out a large crane, volcanic rock about a metre down, a shed hard against one side that the pool had to hug, about a metre of deck all the way around the pool, and a one-metre path between the pool and the house in a gap of about 2.5 m. It was built to Kevin's original plan from beginning to end, with nothing changed along the way.
Pool barrier. At One Tree Hill the barrier is frameless glass, installed and certified by Profit NZ and consented separately. Which applies to your site is settled before we quote.
5 to 6 weeks on site
Herne Bay: the render before the dig
At Herne Bay we drew the render before anything was dug: the plunge pool behind black pool fencing, with a dining table and loungers on turf. What went in was a Little Pools Co Plunge 3 where a reinforced concrete fireplace had stood, Jagas pavers and copings, a lounge area where a strip of dead garden had been, and Urban Turf's Bayside 25 mm synthetic turf.
Pool barrier. At Herne Bay the aluminium balustrade is the pool fencing: Delta panels, installed by Profit NZ and consented separately. Which applies to your site is settled before we quote.
10 weeks on site
Meadowbank: when the concept isn't the final design
Not every concept is the one that gets built. At Meadowbank we did the original 3D concept. The clients then had a second design made by a design studio, and that's the one we built to.
That's how it should work. A concept is there to show what the space can take and get a project moving, and it's yours to keep either way. At Meadowbank we built everything around the pool from the foundations up, including the curved Vitex deck, two flights of stairs and the Macrocarpa beds, while Artisan Stone and Tiles brought the pool itself back to life.
About 10 weeks on site
What a concept design is, and isn't
A concept design is 3D visuals: a front view and a top-down render of the layout. It isn't a set of construction drawings or engineering documents; that detail is worked out at the build stage if the job goes ahead. It can also be done on its own, without committing to the build. It's quoted separately, and it's yours to keep either way.
What actually decides it
Seeing it first. A client who can see the space decides with more confidence, and is less likely to change their mind once building starts.
Heights, not just layout. At Mission Bay the design had to join a new deck to an old one, match the house and set the pool at the right height above the deck. That's most of the design.
The order of the build. The design decides what goes in first. At Mission Bay the deck was finished before the pool arrived.
Who draws it. When we draw it, the person who draws the curve on screen is on site when it's cut. When a design studio draws it, as at Meadowbank, we build to theirs.
Where we fit
The site visit and the written quote are free. If your project needs a concept or 3D design first, that's quoted separately, and it's the fastest way to find out what your yard can actually take.