Happy New Year and welcome to our latest newsletter!

In this newsletter we will:

• Show you some of our highlights of 2008
• Give you details of a special offer for design consultations in January and February 2009
• Give you our latest company news, including opening of a second office in Sydney, Australia.

Highlights of 2008

In 2008 we completed our first natural pool outside the UK in Greece, built our first natural pool in an English country club, and carried out more swimming pool conversions, as well as continuing our main work of designing and building original natural swimming pools and swimming ponds in UK domestic gardens.

If you are interested in seeing more you can download a slideshow from our home page (click the link "slideshow" - PowerPoint or PowerPoint Viewer required).  The slideshow gives a good sense of the different characteristics and qualities possible with natural pools and swimming ponds.

		This pool on the side of a mountain in the Peloponnese in Greece was completed last summer. The way we worked here has provided a reliable template for many subsequent projects in other European countries we are now carrying out. Local contractors worked on the conventional landscaping elements, and we provided the design, supervised the construction and installed the purification technology. Click here for more photos.
Peloponnese, Greece, Sept 2008
While most of our projects are still "full construction" (i.e. we carry out all design and all construction from beginning to end), in 2008 we have started building many more "part-build" projects in the UK as well as outside the UK. This swimming pond in East Sussex is a good example of a "part-build" project, with the work shared between the client, a local builder and ourselves. For more details and photos click here.
		East Sussex, Sept 2008
		This photo was taken at a wedding in Cambridgeshire in September. We actually completed the swimming pond at the end of 2007 but 2008 was its first summer... incidentally the owner tells us that since then she has been swimming regularly well into November. Click here for more photos.
Cambridgeshire, Sept 2008
Natural pools can be converted from conventional swimming pools and we have now completed several such "pool conversions". We completed this pool conversion in Kent in June, by keeping the original swimming area and extended the planting area around the outside. For more photos, including "before" and "after", click here.
		Kent, July 2008
		On November 1st we attended the inauguration of the natural pool we built at Foxhills Country Club in Ottershaw, Surrey... officially opened by Foxhills' managing director, Marc Hayton, being pushed in. This natural pool sits in the new Spa Garden at Foxhills, close to a hot tub and sauna.  It gets very good use even in the winter as a dipping pool, and we expect it to come into its own in the warmer months with extensive and regular use... stay tuned for more photos in 2009.
Foxhills, Surrey, Nov 2008

Please see our gallery for more photos of this and other swimming ponds, and you can also read more customer testimonials of other swimming ponds we have built.

Special Offer during January and February

We are currently taking £200 off all design consultations throughout January and February.  For an explanation of how our process works please click here for the UK (or here for international) but essentially this means that:

• All UK site visits within the M25 in this period are free
• All other UK site visits within 2 hours of London are reduced to £200 + VAT + travel
• All initial remote design consultation sessions (through a web conferencing meeting) are free for all UK and international customers.

Our aim is to book up all design and construction slots to the end of summer 2009 during this promotional period of January and February.  Please note also that the number of design consultation slots available in these two months is limited and will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis - there are only a certain number we can carry out!

So if you would like to be swimming in your swimming pond this coming summer please contact us as soon as possible on 020 7183 3333 or email tim@gartenart.co.uk.

New office opening in Sydney, Australia

We are excited to announce that in March 2009 we will be expanding our operations to open a second gartenART office, in Sydney, Australia.  This will be run by Ralf Schmiel who will be moving to Sydney to run operations there full time.  For enquires in Australia and New Zealand please contact Ralf directly on ralf@gartenart.co.uk.

The London office will continue to be run by Tim Evans with the same design and construction teams.  All UK projects and all international projects outside Australia and New Zealand will still be run from the London office.

As ever, if you have any questions about having a natural swimming pond in your garden, or would like to book a design consultation, please call us on 020 7183 3333 or email tim@gartenart.co.uk.

With very best wishes for 2009,

Tim Evans