Nothing says you’ve won at life like spending the afternoon soaking in a body of water within the confines of your own home – and in a tropical climate like Malaysia’s, having a water feature to plunge into is as much a necessity as it is a luxury. To inspire those with the space to spare (and to motivate those without) we have curated the top 5 swimming pool designs from homes around the country for your reference.
While a diverse range of swimming pool shapes exist to complement architecture or landscape, we will be looking exclusively at the archetypal rectangular swimming pool for homes – as opposed to the circular and freeform designs sometimes spotted on larger estates and prevalent in commercial properties or condominiums.
5. Vintage Style
The classic method of coping to swimming pool edges: cantilevered edges mounted just above the water level, does more than provide a visual element to separate hardscape from water feature – the coping is typically formed out of unpolished stone to provide a non-slip surface and positioned to subtly hang over the body of water in order to reduce the volume of spills over the sides when the pool is in use.

The subtle overhang of the stone coping tiles reduce the volume of splashes, enabling the nearby placement of furnishings made out of natural materials. Designer: Desigva Interior
4. Edgeless Fringe
In order to fit a lap pool in the relatively tight quarters of this home’s courtyard, the pool’s edges are kept as narrow as possible. The border between the pool’s edge and the stone tiles of the courtyard floor has been reduced to a metallic bezel of minuscule width, while the coping is dispensed with entirely where the pool meets the substructure of the home.

Where building meets the water’s edge, coping is dispensed with in order to provide a pool adequately large for swimming laps while retaining the majority of the limited space for lounge furniture. Designer: Metrics Global
3. Wood Deck
Perhaps the most appropriate style of poolside hardscaping for our tropical circumstances, using wood deck flooring to surround a pool is a practical way of extending functional outdoor space to the water’s edge without the relatively high expenditure associated with stone tiles. Natural wood may be preferred for its authenticity, but composite materials are better suited to conditions of fluctuating humidity – such as the poolside in our tropical climate.

The wood deck effectively expands the usable area of the patio, while concealing the hollow coping and overflow channels. Designer: IDS Interior Design
2. Vanishing Edge
Often spotted bordering infinity pools to offer uninterrupted views of the surrounding landscape, the negative edge is a design feature that is showing rapid deployment in large modern homes with scenic views. Instead of utilising hollow coping channels in the pool’s walls to capture overflowing water, this design requires the construction of a channel around the wet edges to serve water back into the surge tank. While this design occupies a larger footprint than a conventionally edged pool of the same size, the seamless transition in elevation and unhindered view from the poolside make the greater space consideration worthwhile.

This pool’s negative edge provides uninterrupted views of the gardens and an impromptu waterfall in the overflow channel while immersed. Designer: X-Two Concept
1. Hidden Channels
Enclosing a swimming pool in architecture calls for some innovative design solutions – especially when working with limited space. In order to resolve the combination of a pool with disappearing edges, adjacent window frames, and an indoor walkway, the overflow channels are covered with grating and topped with river pebbles to allow water to pass through while filtering out any debris that may have inadvertently fallen in.

The edges of this swimming pool are a combination of stone coping and negative edges, the stone coping to provide support for window frames, and negative edges to integrate the pool’s edge with the adjacent walkway. Designer: Design Spirits
Concerned about water damage? Read about waterproofing your home here.