Month: October 2018

Discover Stand Up Paddling and start to do it in your pool!

Laird Hamilton has surfed monster waves. The biggest and most dangerous there are. Raging waters that can only be reached by helicopter, in inflatable boats or on a water scooter. To reach these milestones when there still weren’t any rules, Hamilton started out by surfing on a board with a paddle to help him improve his performance. He had created the modern version of stand up paddling (SUP).

This sport became a core part of his training and enabled him to surf waves of up to 30 meters high, such as those in Jaws, on this island of Maui (Hawaii), which turned him into a legend of the world of surfing. “Nothing makes you stronger for surfing the biggest waves than stand up paddling. It gives your legs, feet and toes stability and strength”. These were his words in an interview for the specialized magazine Standup Journal, where he also described how people asked themselves what sport it was when first they saw him in Ho’okipa (Hawaii).

SUP piscinaSUP: Stand up paddling, a sport without limits

Since then, Hamilton has demonstrated that there are no limits to doing SUP and has crossed the high tides of Turnagain Arm in Alaska, the Grand Canyon, the English Channel and he has gone around all of the islands in the Hawaiian archipelago. SUP, which was almost discovered by accident, is now more popular than ever and the types of board depend on the activity to be done on them: yoga, long-distance paddling, down-river runs, riding the waves, etc., on both the open sea and inland waterways.

To break into the world of SUP, we recommend starting in calm waters such as in a pool, as it is a confined space that provides the safety required during the first days of training because the wind and adverse weather conditions can make the water almost impossible to navigate. When you start to build up confidence in the flat water, we would encourage you to try it out in surf wave pools!

Other top tips, according to Laird Hamilton, are to find a good instructor, to be familiar with the places where you paddle, to keep safe and to have as much fun as possible: “Go out with a smile and respect the ocean or whatever water you find yourself doing SUP in”.

Ready to give it a try?

Water as an Architectural Resource

Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake) is a reservoir that was built on the Colorado River where it passes through the US city of Austin, Texas, for the purposes of containing floods and providing a leisure facility in the region..

The climate in the area is characterised by hot summers and mild daytime temperatures in winter, with relatively low rainfall all year round. Nearby can be found Edgeland House, designed by the Belgium-Taiwanese firm Bercy Chen Studio for a science fiction writer. Its design stands out among the numerous typical family homes in this corner of Texas.

The architects managed to reinterpret one of the oldest types of building in America, a pit house sunk into the ground so that they could make the most of the land’s thermal inertia. The house, barely 130 square metres on a single floor, sit two metres below ground level and can only be recognised as such as one approaches it and stumbles across a crack that runs from end to end to divide the inside into two well-defined areas: the living and sleeping quarters.

The surrounding natural plant life, from which the architects also drew inspiration, was made to form part of the design with the help of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The result is a green roof that almost completely makes the house invisible from the outside. Apart from making the house blend in with its surroundings, this construction method maintains the inside of the home at a constant temperature and, therefore, keeps energy bills down.

edgeland_house_3_thecoolpool

This is not the only heating system used in this project for improving comfort indoors. Incoherence with the rest of the design, a system of radiators was installed that works with water at low temperatures. This makes energy consumption, whether to heat or air condition the house, considerably lower. This high-performance system of circulating water is rounded off by the home’s fantastic pool. Reached by crossing the central corridor that runs through the house, the pool’s water volume also serves as an additional thermal mass.

The views from the central corridor of the house are particularly appealing in this natural landscape and its shape ventilates the whole of the house as if it were a continuous patio.

Pictures: Paul Bardagjy

A Scandinavian refuge for enjoying water all year around

Everybody knows about the enviable Scandinavian custom of using the bounties of water for keeping in good physical and mental health. The young architects’ studio Claesson Koivisto Rune, founded in Stockholm in 1995 and whose work straddles between architecture and design, has just designed and completed a pavilion with two pools for a villa built in 1796. Although the mansion has a predominantly classic look, the proposal of the multidisciplinary studio for the new facility stands out for its modern style of pure and simple lines.

Thanks to the space designed, the owners of the villa can enjoy a swim all year around. For summer days, they have an outdoor pool on a platform as the main feature in the middle of this piece of work. From here, there is a view over the rest of the garden. Although one would think that this is ideal for hot summer’s days, it does not take a stretch of the imagination to envisage more daring swimmers having a dip in this pool surrounded by snow. However, there is an indoor pool under the platform to round off this project. Both offer a splendid choice for having a swim every day of the year.

Poolhus Wirum, Claesson Koivisto Rune

The build is marked by a single detail that runs throughout the project. Inspired by French parquet flooring, the architects have followed through the chevron pattern on every surface of the build. The wood decking, the panelling (on both walls and ceilings) and the tiling have the same pattern carefully cut using a precision laser. White was chosen for the tiling and, thanks to the steps arranged like a grandstand in the pool, they reflect a darker shade of turquoise the deeper they are.

The two pools are flanked by two volumes on the platform that serves to conceal the stairwell down to the spa and to fit out a roofed kitchen with a dining area for meals in the garden.

The image of the new spa clearly has little to do with this villa’s historic style. However, there is no doubt that the architects have managed to conjure up a visual memory of the chevron parquet flooring in the mansion’s classically styled rooms.

Meet VIRON XT -The most efficient pump

The best-selling filtration pump in the market has had a makeover with features and ease of use never seen before. The AstralPool brand has the Viron XT Variable Speed pumps which are more resistant, silent, easy-to-use and efficient pool pump, suitable for any pool.

A pump plays a crucial role in how a pool works. Therefore, when choosing the most suitable one for a pool it is important to bear in mind their performance, energy consumption, its compatibility with the rest of the pool equipment and its user-friendliness. The pumps have nine-start energy efficiency, fast and overdrive functionality making it the efficient solution for a filtration pump for your pool.

Increasing or decreasing the speed of a pump simply changes the flow rate by the same rate. However, the actual energy used to change the speed and flow varies dramatically. Halve the speed of your pump and the flow rate will also halve but, the energy consumed drops by more than 85%. compared to conventional single speed pumps, the Viron XT pump will save between $750 and $1,200 every year in operating costs.

The Viron XT range takes new steps forward in environmentally friendly pumps. In fact, a conventional single speed pump uses more energy and is the cause of more Co2 emissions than almost any other household appliance. Viron XT pumps reduce energy consumption by up to 90% and effectively reduce greenhouse emissions by up to 90% (when power supplied from coal-fired power plants). But, manufacturing a pump also contributes to greenhouse emissions. The larger the motor, the more raw materials go into it, and the more greenhouse emissions are used to produce the motor. AstralPool produces the right size motor for your individual application, reducing our carbon footprint in the manufacturing process.

Thanks to the resistant state-of-the-art thermoplastics used to make it, the Viron XT variable speed pump has a longer service life than all other pumping devices in the market. A further aspect that significantly increases the resistance and durability of this self-priming pump is that its motors have a high protection rating and are designed to withstand extreme temperatures and high levels of humidity.

The Viron XT Variable Speed pumps save up to 85% in energy use and reduce carbon emissions by up to 90% compared to a conventional single speed pump. They are also simpler than previous models, with three separate speeds that are easily controlled with up and down buttons. The pumps’ low speeds are reportedly up to 75% quieter than a traditional conventional single speed pump, enabling them to be run at any time to capitalise on off-peak energy prices without invasive noise.

Your Viron XT Pump is a significant investment. Each individual component is carefully designed and selected for maximum lifespan in the tough Aussie climate. 316 stainless steel hardware, robust engineering plastics and high-quality silicone seals create a pump that lasts. Even the motor and sophisticated electronics are carefully designed and manufactured to be easily serviced and repaired. These are just some of the reasons the Viron XT Pump carries a 3 year in field warranty.

The Viron XT Variable Speed pump range is proudly designed and manufactured in Australia for Australians. In short, the Viron XT Variable Speed pump is the state-of-the-art efficient pump that is best adapted to the real needs of residential pool owners and that delivers real added value to them.