The Pools is part of a new planned residential development in the Great Park neighborhood in Irvine. As land becomes scarcer in southern California and the demand for larger houses grows, usable outdoor space has been reduced to a minimum for both residents and communities. This project consolidates this precious resource along with other features into a single central destination for all: a neighborhood amenities park.

The complex includes amenities promoting healthy lifestyles for residents and the community at large including two family and leisure pools, a communal ‘living room’, a library space, full outdoor kitchen and several cabanas and deck lounges. In addition, two tower elements, strategically located in the park, define major entries and glow at night as beacons of a new promising community.

The three new buildings, totaling 11,900 square feet, establish a contrast to the status quo of completely sealed houses, detached from their context and natural environment. The new buildings are conceived as planar arrangements that protect from elements and suggest enclosed space while purposefully connecting to the outdoors to leverage the local mild climate and surrounding amenities.

The material palette is simple and elegant: stacked stone walls ground the structure, floating teak wood ceilings add warmth, large format porcelain tile floors and operable glass walls provide a seamless indoor-outdoor flow. The towers are clad in smooth plaster and are capped with a brushed metal ‘reflector’ that is lit with programable LEDs to visually communicate events to the community. The buildings are an expression and reinterpretation of the quintessential southern California lifestyle.