A well-designed pool is more than just beautiful, it’s a harmonious piece of a home’s unique composition.

While pools are fairly ubiquitous in luxury architectural design, the truly unforgettable ones – the ones that seem to melt into the horizon or stretch effortlessly toward the water beyond – they don’t happen by accident. And they’re not simply an add-on to a property. They’re an intentional decision, thoughtfully woven into the full landscape of a custom home design.

At Camens Architectural Group, pool design is never about putting in a pool simply to check a box. It’s about how this body of water at home can extend the view, enhance the rhythm of a home, and ultimately elevate the owners’ experience. The best pools are a conversation between the house, the land, and the people who enjoy it.

The architect’s role is to compose that conversation.

1. It Starts with the Site

Part of chief architect Marc Camens’ distinct residential architecture process is visiting a homesite early and often. This early exposure provides the opportunity to closely collaborate with the setting and the nature around it – which is especially relevant in settings like Kiawah Island new developments.

Organically integrating the landscape and surrounding nature of a site also means prioritizing the views not only from the exterior, but also from the interior living spaces. A pool can serve as a transition point between the home and the natural elements beyond, including the ocean, the horizon line, and the sky.

“We often position pools, so the water visually disappears into the landscape beyond – a disappearing edge where it seems to spill into a pond, a marsh, or the horizon itself,” says Camens. “It’s not just a trick of the eye; it’s an architectural gesture… one that elongates sightlines, creates serenity, and amplifies the surrounding beauty.”

From the inside looking out, the pool becomes part of the view and an extension of the home’s architecture and visual language – not just a nice amenity.

2. Compatibility Is Key

With pool design in residential architecture, it’s not about choosing an exciting shape for the sake of it. Rather, it’s about creating the right shape that responds to the architecture of the home and the uniqueness of the site.

“We always look at the relationship between the house and the site when considering the pool design,” says Camens. “Often, the site itself helps define the geometry of the pool – guiding it into a directional shape that points outward toward a breathtaking view or aligns seamlessly with the home to create an indoor-outdoor experience.”

It’s not about making the pool stand out. It’s about making it belong.

3. Creating a Sensory Experience

Water is nurturing, restorative, and even energizing – and it can provide a spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical experience in residential architecture. That’s why well-designed pools serve many purposes in a home, including entertainment-driven fun, recreational swimming, and even Zen spaces of meditation and calm. They also activate color, reflectivity, and soothing white noise within a home.

“We like to think about how people will use the pool and the living space around it – not just in summer, but year-round,” says Camens. “Maybe it’s a quiet morning with coffee on the deck, looking out over still water. Or evening gatherings where the pool reflects the radiant glow of the setting sun.”

In this way, a pool becomes an anchor for indoor-outdoor living – a unifying element that invites movement and connection across thresholds.

A pool shouldn’t just be added to a home, but it should be designed into it – shaped by the architecture and placed with intention.

At Camens Architectural Group, every pool we design is a product of listening: to the site, to the architecture, and to the life our clients imagine living in their home. Because when the pool belongs – truly belongs – it becomes more than just water, it becomes a work of wonder.

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✨ Imagine mornings by still water and evenings where your pool reflects the sunset.
At Camens Architectural Group, we design pools as living, breathing parts of your home – blending beauty, flow, and connection to nature.

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Let’s bring your vision of home – and water – to life.