P.O.AR
Livist Pool
- LocationNai Mueang Subdistrict, Mueang Phetchabun District, Phetchabun Province, Thailand
- ArchitectP.O.AR (Patchara + Ornnicha Architecture)
- DesignerPatchara Wongboonsin, Ornnicha Duriyapraphan, Prakai Voranisarakul, Phongsakorn Pholphaiboon, Sakkrawut Suma, Panchika Treesukosol & Chanon Kaeklang
- PhotographerPatchara Wongboonsin and Papon Kasetratat
MICHEL ROJKIND What makes this project remarkable is the way the pool transforms into something else, turning swimming into a spatial experience with the strength of nature emerging from the concrete elements within the pool. It proves that even leisure can be designed with rigor and imagination.
Livist Pool
Most visitors to Phetchabun travel to Khao Kho to watch the sunrise and sea of mist in the early morning. By 10 a.m., the mist disappears, leaving a gap in activities for the rest of the day. The main purpose of this pool for Livist Resort, a city hotel located 40 minutes’ drive from Khao Kho, is to fill that empty time - extending the experience of the region and completing its rhythm of tourism.
Livist Resort sits in the heart of Phetchabun city, on a flat open plain surrounded by small houses. This setting offers a steady flow of wind throughout the day, a natural condition that became the foundation of the pool’s design. Instead of resisting climate, the pool was shaped to be used with it.
The swimming pool lies in the hotel’s west garden, oriented toward the distant Khao Kho mountains and sunset views. It is defined by 14 large, tilted inverted-pyramid planters, each around three meters tall and wide. Arranged in different orientations, they create shaded micro-rooms underneath while leaving their pointed tips open for wind to pass almost 100%. This allows the pool to be naturally ventilated, shaded, and private without blocking the air. The planters also block downward views from guest rooms, giving swimmers seclusion while still connecting them to breeze and horizon.
The pool itself is shaped like a gentle bowl: shallow flat edges allow children to play and guests to lounge, while the floor gradually slopes toward the center for swimming. Without steps or sharp drops, the bowl form ensures safety and easy entry from all sides. From above, the surface reads as a gradient - shifting from the gray shallows to blue at the center -like a second sky.
At night, when fewer guests use the pool, the still surface becomes a climate-driven mirror. It doubles the tilted planters into a sculptural field of light and reflection, giving the hotel a landmark view at the exact time when Khao Kho disappears into darkness. Here, climate is not a backdrop but the material of the design. Wind, sun, mist, and reflection are placed into form so that the pool can be used all day, all seasons.
