Choosing a pool just got super fun with the opening of Auckland’s The PoolHouse
Imagine long, hot New Zealand sunny days spent lazing by the pool, kids splashing, barbecue grilling up some lunch, music rocking in the background. Or maybe your ideal scene is more serene – floating on a lilo with an oversized straw hat, a glass of something refreshing tinkling in one hand, the other draping lazily in the water. Or perhaps just a few quiet morning laps before the world wakes up.
Pools are part of the iconic Kiwi summer experience and turning your pool dreams into reality just got easier, and a whole lot more fun, with the opening of Auckland’s The PoolHouse display centre.
It’s a vision of pool perfection — 11 styles beautifully landscaped so you don’t need to imagine how your summer oasis at home might turn out, you can see it for yourself. Better yet? You can even test it out. It’s the ultimate try-before-you-buy.
“You can come and have a swim, you can bring your kids, you can decide what’s right for you,” says The PoolHouse’s co-owner and managing director Chris Connors. “You can see all the different styles, colours and functions, basically, depending on family size and what you’re using the pool for you can visualise all of them.” And make a proper day of it, while you’re at it. There’s even a kids’ play area and a drinks fridge so everyone will be in their element as you potentially make decisions about your own ideal pool set-up.
It was Chris’s own less-than-ideal experience of trying to buy a pool that led to him buying The PoolHouse business (previously known as Aqua Technics NZ). “Straight away I realised there is a huge opportunity within this business and wider industry to get things right,” he says. “When I looked at the pool industry as a whole, it seemed very simplistic in terms of marketing and showcasing the pools or products. Generally, there may be some pool pictures on the website and maybe a couple of pools in the ground and that’s about it. So, we thought, well, what can we do differently?
“Yes, customer service is going to be absolutely front and centre of what we do, but let’s rip the rule book up a little and come up with a unique approach, that ensures an amazing customer experience from start to finish.”
And so, the pool display centre was conceived and built, working with BlackBird Projects and Placemakers, to create the feeling of the Hamptons or Palm Springs in Auckland.
Eleven styles of fibreglass pools available to buy are represented and have been landscaped with different finishes — tiling, water features, fences, decking and different colourways — so customers can visualise their own ideal.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.“We project manage from start to finish,” says Chris. “We’ve got a lot of preferred suppliers in terms of architects, tiling companies, fencing companies, all those people that we have very close relationships with. We’ll oversee the whole project management of that.”
Safe in the knowledge that The PoolHouse’s fibreglass pools are of an exceptional quality — the supplier being the most awarded pool company in Australia — there are decisions to then be made about what style suits you.
Specialised pool consultants will talk customers through the myriad choices; do you want the spa pool built in? Or completely stand alone? Side entry step or bench seating for the littlies? Want a lap pool? Or perhaps just an added swim jet, which creates the current to swim against it.
The beauty of the display centre is that you can test out exactly what might work for you and your family.
“You know, if you think about when you’re growing up, there are a lifetime of memories of being in a swimming pool. Hours and hours of fun,” says Chris. And, he says, it transcends generations. “It’s watching your children in them, teenage pool parties, it’s grandparents and grandchildren. What we’re trying to do is embrace pool culture and create memories for summers to come.”
“People can come and visualise it and feel it and touch it and say, you know what? I’d love to have one of those in my back yard and I’d love it to look like that. We’re trying to simplify that process for people. And make it enjoyable along the way.”
And enjoyable it shall be with pool parties planned for the summer months. “We’ve got the most pools in New Zealand in one place. So why not get a bit of buzz happening around it and just rekindle all those good memories. Bring on summer, we say!”
The PoolHouse, 27 The Concourse, Henderson opened in late December. Open 7 days Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 4pm, Sunday 10am to 3pm. Pool users will need to sign a waiver. Visit thepoolhouse.co.nz for more information.
