Commercial
Hotel, resort and community pools, built to carry a crowd
Hotels, resorts, condo developments, master planned communities and baptismal pools, from the urban core to lakeside and hill country.
A public pool has to belong to the building
Developers, architects and general contractors who call Aqua Builders are rarely asking for a pool in isolation. They want water that reads as part of the hotel, resort or community it serves, and that survives a season of guests, children, loungers and cleaning crews. The firm has collaborated on the design and build out of hotels, resorts, condo developments, master planned communities and baptismal pools, from the urban core of Austin to relaxed lakeside and Hill Country settings.
Commercial pools go wrong when the water is designed after the architecture is frozen. The equipment room ends up in whatever space is left over. The deck drains to a low point nobody drew. A rooftop slab was never checked for the weight of a full pool, and the structural engineer finds out in the field. Each of those is a coordination problem that a shared model catches long before concrete is ordered.
The Carpenter Hotel in East Austin is a good example of fit. The pool had to match a boutique, mid century modern property set in a grove of heritage pecan trees, so Aqua Builders worked with the local design team to keep the character of the place intact. The full credits and the rest of the commercial list sit just below.
Boutique hotel pool with a terracotta brick screen wall, blue loungers and a steel pergola
Working inside a hospitality project team
On a hotel job the pool is one trade among dozens, so the work is coordination as much as construction. Aqua Builders provides 3D building and site modeling, Revit modeling with BIM coordination and clash detection, and master planning and coordination for site work, civil work, structural engineering, MPE engineering and architectural structures and elements. The point is to find the conflict between a pool shell and a structural beam on a screen in Driftwood or Austin instead of on a deck.
The same CAD discipline used on residential work applies: pool layout and dimensions plans, a piping plan, an equipment room layout, pool sections that show shell thickness and rebar position, and a piping isometric with GPM by pump speed. Construction scope covers site work and excavation, architectural and structural concrete, hydronic supply and mechanical sets, masonry, civil systems and rain reclamation, metal work and exterior lighting.
The firm's published partner list includes Specht Architects, DPR Construction, The Mighty Union, MMH Hospitality, Gensler, Hunt AECOM, White Lodging and La Corsha Hospitality. The work has also drawn press: Vogue covered Hotel Saint Vincent in New Orleans, Texas Monthly featured East Austin Hotel, and Austin Monthly and Paper City both wrote about the Fairmont Austin.
Keeping public water open and in shape
A commercial pool earns its keep every day it is open. Aqua Builders offers full-service monthly swimming pool maintenance, and the team is knowledgeable about water chemistry, which matters most where the bather load is highest. The same office handles cosmetic and full renovations when a finish or a layout has aged out, as in the Texas A&M University pool before and after.
Larger sites do not arrive all at once. Master planning and phased installation let a resort or master planned community build the main pool first and add amenities as later phases open. Call (512) 722-3636 and a project manager will contact you about beginning the proposal process.
The Fairmont Austin, The Carpenter Hotel, East Austin Hotel, The Plaza San Antonio and The Saint Vincent Hotel in New Orleans.
Named job, East Austin
The Carpenter Hotel, Austin, Texas
A vintage oasis enclosed by a grove of heritage pecan trees and terra cotta barriers in the heart of ATX. Aqua Builders worked with the local design team to create an outdoor space that matched the same vibe as the boutique hotel while keeping the bones of the mid century modern property intact.
- Development
- The Mighty Union
- Architect
- Specht Architects
- General contractor
- DPR Construction
- Pool
- Aqua Builders
Commercial portfolio
Which hotels and resorts has Aqua Builders worked on?
- World Springs Pool
- The Plaza San Antonio Hotel & Spa
- Ottine Mineral Springs
- The Fairmont Austin Hotel Pool
- The Fairmont Austin Hotel Spa
- The Carpenter Hotel, Austin, Texas
- 5th and West
- The Saint Vincent Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana
- East Austin Hotel
- The Reserve at Lake Travis
- TAMU, College Station, Texas
Next to this work
What else sits behind a hotel pool?
- Luxury residential
Contemporary and natural water environments for water-centric lifestyles, with sound, movement, lighting and fire for day and night moods.
- Construction planning and implementation
Survey and layout, excavation, architectural and structural concrete, masonry, hydronics, civil and rain reclamation, metal work and lighting.