An independent Australian journal
Written for owners, designers and builders
A journal of Australian backyard water
Relaunch issue · Australia
Custom Pools is a long-form journal for people commissioning a custom pool in Australia. We write about design briefs, concrete and fibreglass shells, salt air, council paper, and the quiet work of keeping water healthy through a Sydney February or a Melbourne July.
Design and planning
The first meeting should be about how you live, how the block fails, and what the water is for — not a Pinterest board and a handshake.
12 March 2026
Photo: Kgbo / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Hub
The brief, the shape, the sun and the awkward block — work that should happen before a machine arrives.
Photo: Kgbo / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Hub
Shells, dirt, steel, wet edges and the plant room that keeps the pretty water honest.
Photo: Jorge Láscar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Hub
What the water sits in, what the feet stand on, and how the pool looks after dark.
Photo: J Bar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Cost, compliance and regions
The number in the advertisement is usually a shell. The number you live with includes paving, a legal barrier, heating, access and the contingency nobody wanted to print.
16 March 2026
Water, climate and care
Salt and mineral systems still make chlorine. The useful choice is how you generate it, how you protect it from the sun, and what the water does to metal.
8 March 2026
Construction
Most Australian custom work is still shotcrete. Fibreglass is a mould and a crane. Vinyl exists, but it is not the default backyard and should not be sold as if it were.
4 March 2026
Materials and finishes
The interior is the surface you live with for a decade. Colour, texture and chemistry matter more than the sample board in the showroom.
26 February 2026
Every essay sits in a topic hub so Google, readers and future contributors can find the next useful piece rather than a loose pile of posts.
Briefs, shapes, orientation and difficult blocks
Shells, excavation, plant rooms and wet edges
Interiors, coping, tiles and lighting
Chemistry, heating and regional care
Gardens, cabanas, fencing and spas
Budgets, approvals and regional building
Cost, compliance and regions
12 February 2026
Looking for the house rules? Read our editorial standards or the write-for-us guidelines.