Project: Oolite Natural Pool

Landscape Design: TROPICA 
Landscape Installation: TROPICA 
Rock Work: Jose Rock

Status: Built
Design: 2024
Build: 2025 - 

Location: Pinecrest, Miami, FL

TEXT: This natural pool and landscape design is created only from ingredients present at the PLOT. This project is being completed as a Design-Build effort as we are intending to use only components we find at the site, rather than adding or subtracting elements from the property.

In this way, we create architecture through a process of moving, carving, re-purposing, and re-using. We believe that all projects in South Florida can be created in this manner, in order to re-establish our connection to the land, earth, and ground plane. No extra building material is being brought to the site- all stone is instead quarried from the property - carved, cut, and maneuvered to establish the pool’s geometry and form. Once the shape of the pools is carved, an entirely native palette of plants is brought to the site in order to establish a series of diverse plant communities. These ecosystems are defined by subtle variations in elevation and relationship to ground water. Plants that are installed at higher elevations have less access to water, meaning they must survive the dry Florida winters. Plants placed near the water table will purify the water and provide natural filtration to the pool which will otherwise not need salt or chlorine to keep it clean. 

Instead of a bulky and municipality-dependent filtration or pump system, a well was dug for the pool which will tap directly into ground water - offering a constant supply of clean water. Like the beautiful springs found throughout Florida, this ground water will keep the water clear and resembling the natural pools, solution holes, and grottos we encounter throughout the South Florida Landscape. Unlike a typical pool, this water feature will invite wildlife and host fish. 

The opportunity to both Design and Build this project allowed us to direct the excavation at all points in the process - more like a sculptor present at all phases of the work, rather than an architect who delivers a set of plans to be executed later.   Steps, railings, platforms, and benches were carved into the rock, allowing the owner to inhabit the PLOT to a degree that is not otherwise possible... 

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