Dive into the dream: ACT Pools brings the backyard experience to life
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ACT Pools’ new showroom lets customers see, touch and experience real pools, then choose every detail of their own backyard escape in one place. And yes, splashing is encouraged.
In a massive showroom in Hume, the entire ACT Pools team has gone that extra mile to ensure buying a pool is as realistic as possible. To that end, he has installed a couple on site and filled one with water.
It means when you come to look, you can discuss every aspect of pool life, from tiling, depth, shape, colour, heating and upkeep, and then you can see all of that in action, including the jets on full blast.
Managed by Tom Jones and Tom Hickey, whose combined experience spans about 1,000 pool builds, they are taking that idea forward through ACT Pools. The company works across fibreglass, precast concrete and plunge pools, bringing the technical knowledge needed to guide customers from their first question to the final handover – and first dip.
Tom Jones says he wanted the showroom to challenge the idea that customers should make one of their biggest lifestyle investments from a brochure or a handful of tiny samples. Its display pools are filled with water, allowing visitors to see their true colour, understand their scale and even step in to experience how they feel.
That difference matters, says Tom, as water transforms the appearance of a pool interior, while photographs can make dimensions difficult to judge. At the showroom, customers can compare sizes, including generous plunge-pool designs, while seeing how finishes, tiles and surrounding materials work together in real life. There is even a blow-up flamingo for a true touch of verisimilitude.
Meanwhile, an adjoining meeting room has every sample and resource to decide every aspect of a new pool in a one-stop planning session. Customers can sit down with the team to work through pool colour, tiles, dimensions, fencing, decking, heating, pumps and filtration.
Landscape architect Rebecca Salvair is part of the team, helping clients consider the whole backyard rather than treating the pool as an isolated feature. From mood boards and material samples to construction logistics (negotiating ACT Government regulations) and handover, every decision can be made under one roof.
For Tom Jones, it is about replacing uncertainty with confidence. A pool can be the second-largest investment a family makes after its home, and the final result depends on far more than the shell itself. By bringing the products, expertise and design choices together, ACT Pools aims to make a complex process feel clear, tangible and exciting.
Also, it allows him to have the best job in the world.
He loves seeing the expressions on kids’ faces from the first rumble of machinery, to the sight of a crane above the backyard and a small hole growing large enough for a crowd on a summer’s day.
“Honestly, watching those expressions never gets old.”
“We’re building people’s dreams,” Tom says. “For many families, a pool is something they have worked towards for years. To be the person they trust to deliver it is pretty special.”
And for the absolute majority, that investment is worth it.
“A pool can bring a backyard to life and create another room in the house. As children grow, it becomes a reason for them to bring their friends home and for parents to know where they are. It creates a natural gathering place, encourages time outdoors, gets kids off their devices and makes ordinary days feel like holidays.”
And while Tom also agrees that pools ultimately add value to homes, nothing compares to the memories made in the water over the years.
Be among the first to see the showroom
ACT Pools will open its new showroom to the public at 8/98 Sawmill Circuit in Hume, on Saturday 17 October, from 9 am to 2 pm.
Visitors can explore the water-filled display pool, compare options, meet the ACT Pools team and representatives from Plungie, ask questions, and enjoy coffee while imagining what their own backyard could become.
Photography by Taylah Cunningham.
