Set on an elevated slope above Daylesford’s lake, the Lake House is one of Australia’s most celebrated hospitality destinations. When the Wolf-Tasker family set out to add a new lakeside pool, they came to Horizon Pools for a build that could match that reputation. The result is a pool that doesn’t sit on the landscape so much as belong to it.
The brief was a commercial-quality pool integrated into the bushland, designed in harmony with the surrounding eucalypts. Every material choice followed that idea. Soft grey tiles echo the silvery tones of the trees, while a rarely-specified Cosmic Black pebble mix and a dark render give the water a deep, mirror-like finish that flows across the infinity edge to the lake beyond.
The site was our greatest test. Elevated roughly 15 metres above the lake, damp, often slippery, and nearly two hours from Melbourne, it had to be built around a heavily booked resort on a rigid schedule. We met it, completing the concrete shell in just nine days, with excavation, internal plumbing, steel fixing, formwork and concrete spray all delivered in that window by two coordinated spray crews, while multiple construction, render and tiling teams worked across the large pool area to keep the build on schedule.
At the heart of the build is the 17-metre wall underpinning the infinity edge, set at exactly the right elevation to give swimmers and loungers an uninterrupted panoramic view. The scale called for bespoke solutions, including a commercial-grade Paramount in-floor cleaning system and a solar heating setup configured to lift output and reduce running costs.
Designed for stillness with a consistent 1.3-metre depth, the finished pool meets the expectations of two audiences at once: the Wolf-Taskers, who have built their business on ever-evolving excellence, and their guests, a global clientele who come to the Lake House for a world-class experience in a serene bush setting.
SPASA Awards
- Commercial Project of the Year, Gold – National & Victoria
- Concrete Commercial Pool up to $250K – National & Victoria
- Lap Pool, Concrete – Victoria
