Custom Luxury Pools With Rising Star Lance Irby

The world of luxury pools is a rigid dichotomy between design and function. For average homeowners it’s often difficult to achieve a balance between what’s appealing to the eye and what our wallets can afford. Quite often luxury homeowners tend to fall in love with what they’ve seen on Pinterest. During the dream building phase, money is no object. For some that holds true well into the building phase of turning that dream into a reality. No one is more familiar with helping homeowners capture their grand vision for a high-end custom luxury pool than Lance Irby, one of the lead designers for Premier Pools & Spas of Sacramento. Recently we had the chance to catch up with this rising star in the pool industry.

Luxury Pool Designer Lance Irby

Irby first got his start in the pool industry ironically enough when he bumped into Keith Harbeck, the owner of the Sacramento branch of Premier Pools & Spas. Harbeck was a member of the gym that Irby was a Sales Manager at the time. “He’d always whisper in my ear to come sell pools for him, I never took it too seriously.” said Irby.

Irby had a background growing up around construction and doing landscaping in the summers. His focus in school was in design and architecture. After completing a four year internship with a local architecture firm working as a draftsman, Irby began to have a change of heart. As he embarked on establishing a family, he decided to take a leap of faith and reached back out to Harbeck to see what the pool industry had to offer.

“I had some design background, drafting background, construction background. I had skills that would translate well, but I had no idea that they would translate well to the pool industry.” said Irby, “If Keith hadn’t offered me the position and if my life circumstances hadn’t changed, I don’t know that I would have took the chance.”

In reflection Irby says the gamble to shift career paths towards the pool industry has paid off tremendously. “I can’t think of anything that fits me better.” said Irby, “I really enjoy what I do. It’s fulfilling and satisfying to feel like you’ve found something you’re going to do forever.”

Pool Industry Is The Perfect Fit

Irby who is entering his 9th year in the pool industry says that he’s found his niche. “Whatever life throws at me, I just feel like the pool industry is a great fit for my personality. It’s dynamic, it’s always different, it’s always changing. It’s creative and I love it.” said Irby.

Irby certainly seems to have discovered a dormant and hidden talent for creating luxurious over the top backyard resorts. Like many other professionals in the pool industry looking to further and expand on their education, Irby has begun pursuing a path towards becoming SWD Registered with Genesis.

Seeking a Higher Path With Education

“It’s given me the ability to get outside of my comfort zone and become a better designer, a better builder.” explained Irby, “and focus on the aspects and core principles that Genesis teaches, to try and be better and raise my level of competence in the pool industry.”

Many builders, designers, and landscape architects credit programs like Genesis with helping them expand their accumen in the realm of high end luxury pools. Irby says that his entire team is now attending the course, crediting owner Keith Harbeck with investing in the educational pursuits of his sales team. Of course, if it helps them become better builders and leads to more luxury pool projects it’s obviously money well spent.

When discussing what constitutes a luxury pool the definition always varies. Irby said that as a top design consultant for high end custom pools, the vision for a luxury pool is very personal and unique to the homeowner.

What Constitutes a Luxury Pool?

“That’s not a black and white answer. I think what’s luxurious to one person, may not be to another. I think it has to be something that is very fulfilling to a client, that brings a level of satisfaction of elegance. It’s something they desired or are proud of, it’s a combination of probably all those things” said Irby.

Creating a luxury pool for a client does not have a minimum or maximum budget. There is no guidelines that say a pool needs to have certain features or amenities or cost a certain price in order to qualify as a custom luxury pool.

“Sometimes you would associate a luxury pool with something very high end or very expensive, but that doesn’t necessarily make it luxurious by my definitions or standards.” said Irby, explaining how the definition differs for the individual consumer. “Everybody has different tastes and styles,” said Irby, “and if you can hit the nail on the head perfectly for that client and can provide them exactly what they wanted and something they are proud of and in love with then I think you have created a luxury pool for a client.”

Unprecedented Demand for Luxury Pools

The push to create a luxury custom outdoor living environment has led to a tremendous increase in homeowners looking to build a swimming pool. Across the globe a trend has developed since 2020, but nowhere in the United States has this been more true than in states like Texas, Florida, and California. In Irby’s stomping grounds of Sacramento, a mass influx of new residents from the Bay Area have caused local home prices to sky rocket. The migration has also seen many well heeled homeowners with cash to invest in their backyards.

“People are looking for a nicer more complete product, with the total environment and a higher end look. They’re coming from equity strong positions and they’re able to put nicer backyards together or build luxury pools almost instantaneously – it’s not a big financing conversation or ‘I need to save up money for this type of project’.”

In discussing what constitutes a high end luxury pool, one thing is clear. The design of the pool itself needs to be visually compelling. Irby explained how he works with homeowners to help them articulate their vision for the ultimate backyard.

“If it’s a design that’s high end, it needs to be exciting.” said Irby, “It can’t be something that’s redundant or cut and paste. You need to really take into account their needs. Listen to them alot, talk with them. Get to know them as a client. Find out why they want a pool, how that pool is going to change their life.” explained Irby; who goes above and beyond with his designs to help paint a complete portrait of what the overall end result of the backyard design will look like.

Hot New Design Trends For Custom Pools in 2021

We discussed some of the hot new design trends that homeowners are looking for in a luxury pool in 2021. Irby who is on the cutting edge of design gave us a list of some of the features homeowners are looking for in a luxury pool this summer.

“Definitely unique textures, wooden decks around pools. Large format tiles. Color and texture is something that is very popular. People are looking for alternatives for the decking solutions around pools.” explained Irby, “Fire and water always have a nice play off of each other. Those are very popular on high end projects. Water in motion and working with different elevations are also popular with customers these days.” continued Irby.

Irby has established himself locally as an expert design consultant in custom luxury inground pools and frequently works with some of the leading home builders in the area. Recently boutique custom home builder Zak Mougharbel of Sheba Development LLC brought in Irby and Premier Pools & Spas to help them provide an incredible resort style luxury pool for a homeowner in Granite Bay, CA.

Showcased here this unique water shape comprises an incredible luxury pool with 180 degree panoramic views of the Sacramento skyline. A truly breathtaking and unique one of a kind pool concept that expertly combines elements of fire and water into the perfect marriage of both.

A nod to Grand Effects for the incredible fire features that help accentuate the dramatic overall canvas of this masterpiece. The sunken firepit and fire woks are some truly high end amenities to incorporate into a luxury pool concept that make great use of different elevations.

This pool is a prime example of why Lance Irby is fast on his way towards establishing himself as a respected design consultant and one of the top pool designers to watch in the next few upcoming years.

If you’d like to learn even more about this pool project, listen to our complete interview with Lance Irby on the Pool Magazine podcast.

Video Credit: Jovan Valdez / Sarah Ramalho
Home Builder: Sheba Development LLC.
Pool Builder: Premier Pools & Spas Sacramento
Pool Designer: Lance Irby