A dream pool

Dark concrete and a perfect joint pattern

Sperhansl Bau GmbH had already carried out work on this private ground once before. A few years ago the principal commissioned the construction of a noble one-family house, with sand-blasted concrete and brushed oak in the interior, glass surfaces, and charred larch wood façade elements. All that was missing was the matching pool. Once again Sperhansl Bau implemented the exacting requirements with aplomb.

Meticulous scheduling
A dream pool has now been built on this plot of land, enthroned between organic vines and with a magnificent view down into the valley. The principal wanted the pool to be made of the darkest concrete possible. “We used C25/30/B7 concrete with a maximum colouring level of 5% using the colour pigment Black F9330”, reveals master builder Peter Sperhansl. The mixture was delivered ex-works by the concrete supplier Reiterer from Bad Fischau in Austria. As the mixing plant had to be cleaned immediately after mixing in order to remove traces of the pigment before further use, it was only possible to pour the concrete in the morning, requiring exact coordination of the pouring schedule.

Function follows aesthetics

The dimensions of the pool were not specified beforehand but rather defined according to aesthetic principles: According to the design principle “function follows form”, it was decided that the length and breadth of the pool should be determined by the available panel sizes of the ideally suited formwork system. An important goal was to produce an evenly spaced, harmonious joint pattern with only vertical joints. Architect Oliver Steinbauer and the construction company discussed the formwork pattern and the surface finish beforehand. “This was only possible by working closely with MEVA in order to find the optimum formwork system”, reports Peter Sperhansl.

Thus, rented AluFix panels with a height of 1.50 m were used in order to achieve the desired pool depth with only vertical joints. The resulting pool length was 8.50 m, corresponding to ten AluFix formwork panels with a width of 0.75 m plus two 0.50 m panels. The pool width of 3.25 m resulted from the use of three 0.75 m plus two 0.50 m panels.

The 30 cm thick walls and floor slab were produced using waterproof concrete in accordance with the Austrian regulations on watertight constructions. The outer surfaces were left untreated and correspond to the neat imprint of the alkus all-plastic facing equipped to AluFix as standard. In the pool itself, Zemdrain CPF liners were attached to the formwork in order to seal the concrete surface without pore formation. Peter Sperhansl: “AluFix fulfilled the customer’s wishes and was also ergonomic and easy to use.”

Fotos ©STEINBAUER architektur+design

MEVA systems:

• Wall Formwork AluFix

Project:
Swimming pool, Winzendorf-Muthmannsdorf, Austria

Contractor:
Sperhansl Bau GmbH, Thernberg, Austria

Architect:
STEINBAUER architektur+design, Wiener Neustadt, Austria

Concrete supplier:
Reiterer GmbH, Bad Fischau-Brunn, Austria

Engineering and support:
MEVA Schalungs-Systeme Gesellschaft m.b.H., Pfaffstätten, Austria