The design starts with a conversation, not a template.
Custom pool design at Atlantis begins with a phone call about your budget, your wants, and the shape of your yard, followed by a free site visit where Kelly Jennings measures elevations and setbacks in person. From there, your design comes together over seven to ten days and is presented at a design meeting, alongside a detailed proposal.
Kelly Jennings, Designer & Project Manager, Atlantis Pools & Spas
A lot of pool companies start design with a catalog: pick a shape, pick a size, add features from a list. Atlantis starts with a conversation. Before anything gets drawn, Kelly wants to understand the budget you're working with, what you actually want out of the space, and what your property allows. The design that comes out of that process looks like your yard and your life, not like the last ten pools that company built.
Why a rushed design costs you twice.
A pool design built too fast, or built from a template instead of your actual yard, tends to surface its problems after construction starts, when a change costs far more than it would have on paper. The buyers who end up happiest are the ones whose design was slow enough to get right the first time.
Two of the most common regrets homeowners describe after a custom pool build trace straight back to the design phase: a layout that didn't account for how the family actually uses the yard, and a proposal that changed significantly once construction started. Both are design problems, not construction problems. A design built around a real conversation, a real site visit, and enough time to think it through catches those issues before they're change orders.
Design is also where the whole backyard gets decided, not just the water. The pool, the spa, the fire feature, the kitchen, the stonework, and the decking all have to work as one connected space, sited correctly and sized to the property.
How a design goes from conversation to construction-ready.
An Atlantis design moves through the steps below, from the first phone call to a finished-project walk-through if you want one, with rework built in until it's right.
What happens on the first call?
The first phone conversation covers your budget, what you want the space to do, and the basic shape of your property, so Kelly can walk into the design site visit already understanding what you're building toward. It stays a conversation, not a quote: the real numbers come after the site visit and the design, once Kelly knows what the property actually allows.
Who actually comes to your property, and what do they do?
Kelly comes to your property in person for a free design site visit, measuring elevations, checking setbacks, and walking the fit of what you described on the phone against the real space: where the sun falls, where the sightlines from the house land, how the grade moves across the yard. This is the same visit the site-analysis process describes from the engineering side, seen here through the design lens: what can this yard become, not just what will it structurally support. Nothing is handed over in writing at this visit; what she finds becomes the design you see at the follow-up meeting.
How long does it take to see an actual design?
After the design site visit, Kelly builds your custom design over seven to ten days, working from the budget, the wants, and everything measured on-site: the shape of the pool, the placement of the spa and any fire or water features, the layout of the outdoor kitchen or pavilion if the project includes one, and the stonework and decking that tie the whole environment together. Material and finish selection happens as part of this same design pass, not bolted on afterward.
What actually happens at the design meeting?
At the design meeting, Kelly presents your finished design alongside a detailed proposal, together, so you're seeing the design and understanding what it costs and what it takes to build at the same time, the first point in the process where a real proposal exists. Nothing about the design is a surprise relative to the proposal, and nothing about the proposal is disconnected from what you're seeing; if something needs to change, that's what happens next.
What if the first design isn't quite it?
Design continues past the first design meeting for as long as it takes to get right, however many rounds that takes. Rework is a normal, expected part of the process, not an exception, and it happens before construction starts, not after: whether it's a feature, a material, a layout choice, or the overall feel of the space, the design gets reworked until it matches what you actually pictured. The Bitting project, covered below, is the clearest example on record of what that can look like when it runs long.
Can you see a finished Atlantis pool in person before you commit?
Yes. Seeing photos of a finished pool and standing in one are different experiences, so Atlantis keeps a reference list of every pool the company has ever built, and a design in progress can include a visit to one or more of those past projects, similar to what you're building, to see the real thing before you commit. Someone from the team will come along.
What three years of design looked like on the Bitting project.
Thu and Kyle worked with Atlantis on the Bitting project in Acworth for three years of design before construction began, described as a detail-obsessed collaboration. It's the clearest evidence on record of what the design process can do when a client wants to take the time to get every detail right.
How a finished design becomes a construction schedule.
Once a design and proposal are approved, the same specifics that shaped it, the elevations, materials, features, and layout, become the plan construction builds from over the twelve to fourteen weeks that follow. That continuity is why the design phase gets the time it does: a design built in a day tends to get reinterpreted once real ground and materials are involved, while a design built over seven to ten days, checked against the actual site, tends to get built exactly as approved.
Continue to how we build
Questions buyers ask about the design process.
How long does the design phase actually take?
Most designs come together in seven to ten days after the free design site visit, working from your budget and wants. Some clients take longer on purpose, like the three-year design relationship behind the Bitting project, when there's more to work through. The seven-to-ten-day window is the norm, not a hard limit.
Do I get anything in writing after the first visit?
Not at the first visit. The design site visit is where Kelly studies your property in person. What she finds becomes the custom design and detailed proposal presented together at the design meeting that follows, seven to ten days later.
Who actually designs my pool?
Kelly Jennings, Atlantis's Designer and Project Manager, runs the design process from the first conversation through the design meeting. She is a Genesis School Associate and a Certified Pool Builder with multiple PHTA Design Awards, and has worked in pool and outdoor living design for over twenty-two years.
What if I don't like the first design?
Rework is a normal part of the process, not an exception. The design keeps going until it matches what you actually pictured.
Does the design include materials and finishes, or is that separate?
Materials and finish selection happen as part of the same design pass, not as a separate step added on later. By the design meeting, the finishes are part of the design you're seeing, not a decision left for after construction starts.
Can I see a finished pool in person before I commit to a design?
Yes. Atlantis keeps a reference list of every pool the company has ever built. As your design takes shape, you can ask to visit a past project similar to what you're building, and someone from the team will come along.
Begin with a conversation.
The design process starts with a phone call, not a form you fill out alone. Tell Kelly your budget and what you want the space to do, and she'll set up the free design site visit from there. Your custom design comes together over the next seven to ten days, ready to see in full at the design meeting.