All-Tile Mosaic Pool — Barrington Hills, Illinois
A 1,300 square foot mosaic pool floor
A private estate pool in Barrington Hills, Illinois, hand-cut in a custom blend of 57% Nocturne and 43% Obsidian glass. Thirteen hundred square feet across the floor, the walls, the steps and the spa — every curve tiled by hand.
Every curve tiled by hand, before the pool was filled.
Filled and finished — on the shallow shelf the individual tesserae stay legible.
The blend is two glasses rather than one. A single color at this scale goes flat; mixing at 57/43 keeps variation across the surface so it never reads as a printed sheet. Close up, the iridescence in the glass does the rest.
The blend close up: 57% Nocturne, 43% Obsidian.
Fabricated in the studio and delivered paper-faced in numbered sections keyed to a setting drawing. The pool builder set it.
Why a dark floor
A pale pool floor shows every leaf and shadow. A dark one turns the surface into a mirror — it takes the reflection of the trees and the sky, and the water reads as depth rather than as tile.
Filled, the same floor reads deep green and turns the surface reflective.
At night, with the pool lit, the same floor disappears entirely and the light does the work.
At night the floor disappears and the lighting does the work.
Specification
Area — 1,300 sq ft
Material — hand-poured opaque glass, custom blend
Mounting — paper-faced, numbered sections to a keyed layout
Setting — by the pool builder
Edge — knife edge, six-line trunk detail
Considering something similar?
Smaller pieces run 3–6 weeks from design approval and larger ones 6–16 weeks. Send the finished dimensions, the substrate and a reference image and we will tell you what it costs.
Specifying for a client? See the designers and architects page, or download the specification sheet.
Begin your commission
Send the details of your project, or call (323) 389-5347. Studio hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and Saturday, 9am to 1pm, Pacific.