Tour de Piscine: foreign pool industries often are an enigma to U.S. companies. Here's why the European market is abuzz with activity—and business prospects

Pool & Spa News, August 6, 2004 by Shabnam Mogharabi

The all-tile pool is especially increasing in popularity. While American concrete pools are generally surfaced with plaster, Europeans have rejected this application.

"Most pools in Europe are all tile. There's a much bigger tradition for ceramics in swimming pools in Europe than in the United States, but we're starting to see growth there as well," says Nick Powell, a director of Craig Bragdy Design Ltd., a Colomendy, Wales-based firm that creates elaborate pool murals. In the United States, the company's sales for hand-painted ceramic tile murals, which cost roughly $200 per square foot, have tripled in the last three years.

Natural materials, which are another western European treatment, are popular in pool-heavy states such as Florida and California. In Europe, pools traditionally have featured natural stone coping and "soft grass" extending away from the lip in place of decking, says Jean Lermite, president of Lermite S.A., a pool-building company in Nanters, France. This reflects a historical tendency from the early 1900s to make swimming pools look like naturally formed ponds, a concept that became a trend in the '70s when lagoon-style pools began popping up on the U.S. East Coast.

"When you look at what Europe has given us in the United States--the sense of culture, a pride in workmanship, a push toward natural materials--it's incredible," says builder Skip Phillips, president of Questar Pools & Spas Inc. in Escondido, Calif., who recently designed a two-pool project in the British Isles.

"What I see is their consistent attempt to maintain architectural continuity, taking into consideration the materials and surroundings before they design," adds Phillips, co-founder of Genesis 3, a design organization. "We [need to] respect the innovation and history in Europe."

That's not to say there are no areas of overlap between the two markets. Beach entries, ponds and lush Tuscan-style landscaping, with its reliance on Roman fountains and mosaic accents, are just as prevalent in the world's cultural headquarters as they are stateside, says Maestrami of Italy's Piscine Oggi.

Technology rocks

Ironically, it's the nations with lower numbers of pools--such as the United Kingdom and Switzerland--that make the most technological advances. In fact, about 50 percent of all world patents are filed in the United Kingdom first, says Patrick Thorpe, president of the British Swimming Pool Federation.

"We're pretty good at innovation," adds Thorpe, who's also managing director of Certikin International Ltd., a pool manufacturer in Witney, Oxfordshire.

Take stainless steel pools, for example. Made with absolutely no cement, these pools have been fashionable in European hotels and health spas for years. Today, they are entering the residential market en masse.

"We have sold a number of private pools as a result of people swimming in the commercial pools," says Bill Tuplin, sales director of Invarmex UK Ltd. The firm, based in Nottingham, Great Britain, makes stainless steel pools and has installed approximately 300 units in Europe. "They're angular, very modem-looking. They have a knockout value of their own."