In July 2008, Orillia teenager Tyhme Thompson suffered a serious spinal cord injury, leaving her paralyzed from the chest down. After being airlifted to St. Mike’s Hospital in Toronto, she underwent extensive...

Builders renovating commercial aquatic facilities are looking for ways to help them attract patrons. This often means looking for ways to create a “waterpark” feel around the pool. Rock work can immediately give an aquatic facility a waterpark feel, but rather than wrangling real stones and boulders, builders using artificial…

“We would like a pool.” This is the typical, first broad request from customers that most pool designers/builders can relate to. And, more often than not, these projects become much more than just a pool. Why? Projects tend to escalate from this basic request as a pool designer/builder investigates further…

All swimming pool, spa and water feature designers/builders have had the experience of walking into an empty backyard and trying to visualize the end result. The yard may be as flat as a pancake, on the edge of a cliff, bottom of a hill, have a great view or have…

The state-of-the-art University of British Columbia (UBC) Aquatic Centre, which opened earlier this year, is a modern competitive and recreational aquatic facility that was designed and built by a team of consultants and contractors working with UBC and UBC Properties Trust. The facility represents a unique hybrid aquatic complex that…

To elevate the space, the client wanted to add a pavilion with storage, a large outdoor dining area, a complete outdoor kitchen, and a hot tub. However, their existing, older-style pool, typical of its era, occupied a substantial portion of the backyard’s square footage, making the wish list a bit…