Cantilevered roofs. Floating fire walls. Steel that does what wood and stone can’t.
Our architectural steel features — cantilevered pavilions, floating fire walls, and modern canopies fabricated in-house — are what set our pool and outdoor living builds apart in DFW. Most pool builders stop at the water’s edge. We don’t.
Why architectural steel features matter in a modern pool build.
The modern outdoor living look isn’t achievable with traditional wood framing or stacked stone. It requires engineered steel.
Clean horizontal lines. Oversized openings. The appearance of a roof or wall hanging in space. These design moves — the ones that separate a backyard that looks like the rendering from one that just approximates it — all share the same structural reality. Wood will rot in North Texas humidity. Stacked stone will move with our expansive soils. Only steel, when it’s engineered and fabricated properly, holds its line for the life of the home.
When the design calls for cantilevered roofs that extend over the pool without columns blocking the view, vertical fire features that appear to hover with no visible support frame, or thin-profile flat-roof canopies wood simply can’t span — you’re in steel-fabrication territory. And that’s something most pool companies in DFW don’t offer.
The capability most DFW builders subcontract or skip.
Almost no pool builder in DFW fabricates their own structural steel. Most subcontract it — which means a separate contract you have to manage, a separate insurance certificate to chase, two timelines to coordinate, and a finger-pointing problem when something goes wrong at the joint where steel meets pool.
We took a different path. We brought fabrication in-house, which means our architectural steel features are designed, engineered, fabricated, and installed by the same team that’s building your pool. Every connection, every embed in the gunite shell, every coordination point between the steel structure and the water — that’s all under one roof. One contract. One responsibility. One owner — Adrian Griffee — signing off on the engineering and the install.
Fabricated structural steel cantilever with integrated fire feature and built-in seating — Frisco, TX.
Six signature capabilities, engineered in-house.
Every project is engineered for its specific load, span, and site conditions. These are the elements we design, fabricate, and install most often.
Cantilevered Shade Structures
Steel-framed pavilions and roof extensions that span the pool deck or outdoor kitchen without intermediate posts. Engineered to project-specific spans. Concealed gutters and integrated lighting are standard.
Floating Fire Walls
Vertical steel-framed fire features that appear to hover off the deck or float over the water. Gas-supplied, code-compliant, designed to integrate with adjacent water features and pool lighting.
Modern Architectural Canopies
Thin-profile flat-roof structures wood framing can’t achieve. Often combined with tongue-and-groove wood cladding, board-formed concrete, or stucco finishes that hide the steel inside.
Sculptural Water & Fire Walls
Integrated steel armatures for cascading water features, weeping walls, and combination fire-and-water installations. Sometimes visible, sometimes the invisible engineering that lets a stone or stucco wall cantilever in ways the material couldn’t on its own.
Custom Pergolas & Pool House Frames
Steel-framed pergolas where the design calls for slimmer profiles than 8×8 cedar will give you. Full steel-framed pool houses where the architecture demands it.
Stair, Deck & Bridge Structures
Steel-supported floating stairs, walkways over water, cantilevered decks, and elevated lounge platforms — engineered to the gunite shell so there’s no separation crack later.
Steel isn’t added on — it’s designed in from day one.
The steel and the pool are drawn together, engineered together, and installed by the same crew. No separate contractor schedule. No joint where two trades blame each other.
Design
We model the steel structure alongside the pool. You see how the cantilever reads from inside the house, where the shade falls at 4pm in July, and how the fire wall lines up with the spa.
Engineer & Stamp
We stamp the steel design alongside the pool engineering. Connections to the gunite shell, footings, and tie-ins to the main house are designed as one system.
Fabricate
Cut, welded, and finished in our shop while site work proceeds — no on-site welding sparks landing in fresh plaster. Powder-coated, galvanized, painted, or sealed in-shop before delivery.
Install & Warranty
Set after the gunite has cured but before the deck pour, so embeds and connections are clean and concealed. Carries its own warranty alongside the lifetime structural warranty on the gunite shell.
Not the cheapest way to build a backyard. The right way to build certain ones.
For most projects, architectural steel features — a cantilevered pavilion, a floating fire wall, or an architectural canopy — add this as a scoped line item on top of the pool and outdoor living scope:
$100,000 – $125,000 Line item, depending on size, finish, and complexityFor homeowners building at this level, the steel is what makes the design feel architectural rather than assembled. We don’t bury steel work as a vague “miscellaneous” line — it’s itemized in the proposal alongside every other scope element, so you know exactly what you’re paying for and why.
Open to working with your project team.
If you’ve already specified the steel work, we can build to your drawings.
We’re open to working alongside architects and designers who have specified structural steel elements as part of a larger residential project. We can fabricate and install from your drawings, value-engineer where it helps the build, and coordinate the engineering stamps.
Our work is integrated by design — pool, hardscape, outdoor living, and steel as one project. We don’t take on steel-only scope for projects we’re not building the pool on, but we slot into a larger custom home or estate project comfortably when the pool and outdoor living scope is ours.
What homeowners tend to ask.
Do you really fabricate the steel yourselves?
Yes. We design it, engineer it, fabricate it in our own shop, and install it. We don’t subcontract structural steel work. Every architectural steel feature you see in our portfolio came out of our shop and was installed by our crew.
Is this only for ultra-high-end builds?
The steel work tends to live in our higher-end projects because that’s where the architecture calls for it. But we’ve fabricated smaller pieces — a single cantilevered shade element, a sculptural fire feature — on more modest builds where it was the right move.
Will the steel last in North Texas weather?
Properly finished structural steel — powder-coated, galvanized, or sealed weathering steel — will outlive the home it’s attached to. The finish is what matters; we specify it based on the architectural intent and the exposure.
Can you work from an architect’s drawings?
Yes — we’re open to working alongside architects and designers who have specified structural steel elements. We can fabricate and install from their drawings, value-engineer if needed, and coordinate the engineering stamps. Our work stays integrated though — we don’t take steel-only scope.
Do you do steel-only projects, or only as part of a pool build?
Our work is integrated by design — pool, hardscape, outdoor living, and steel as one project. We don’t take on steel-only scope for projects we’re not building the pool on.
How long does steel fabrication add to a build timeline?
Usually none. We fabricate in parallel with site work — excavation, plumbing, gunite, and curing all happen while steel is being built in the shop. The steel arrives ready to install on its day in the schedule.
Your backyard, architecturally engineered.
If your project calls for steel — or you’re not sure yet, and you want someone who can tell you honestly whether it should — start with a conversation. Adrian walks every property himself.