2026 Coverings Installation & Design Awards
Special Recognition — Glass Tile Pool Design
The Legend of Driftwood Hollow, Driftwood, Texas
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Award‑winning custom pool builder in Austin.
Custom gunite pools, spas and complete outdoor environments — designed, engineered and built by one team in Bee Cave, Texas. Coverings CID 2025 & 2026. Southwest Pool & Spa Show Gold, Technical & Engineering.
83 Google reviews · Coverings 2026, 2025 Southwest Pool & Spa Show 2026 · Pool Magazine
GB IV Designs · Bee Cave, Texas
Custom pool design and construction in Austin.
GB IV Designs is an Austin custom pool builder and aquatic design, engineering and construction firm. We design pools, spas, water, fire, structures and landscape as one composition — then build it in gunite with the same team that drew it.
Founded by George “Bo” Barnett IV, a pioneer of large‑format porcelain in aquatic environments and a Coverings and Watershape University educator, the firm designs for architects across the country and works as a custom pool builder exclusively in Austin and the Texas Hill Country.
25+
Years of industry leadership
23
SWPSS awards, 2025–2026
2
Coverings CID recognitions
1
Team, from first sketch to first swim
Awards & recognition
Award-winning pool design and engineering.
2026 Southwest Pool & Spa Show
Gold — Technical & Engineering Achievement
GB IV Designs
2025 Coverings Installation & Design Awards
Special Recognition — Residential Ceramic Tile Installation
Hill Country Glamour, Dripping Springs, Texas
View source (opens in a new tab)2018 Association of Pool & Spa Professionals
Young Professional of the Year
George "Bo" Barnett IV
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Education & credentials
Partners
Materials and equipment we build with.
What we do
Custom pools, spas and outdoor living.
Five disciplines, one firm. Custom pool design for any site in the country; pool construction, renovation and consulting in Central Texas.
Selected work
Recent pools in Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Dripping Springs.
Six proof pillars
Six disciplines behind every GB IV pool.
The disciplines that separate GB IV from an ordinary Austin pool contractor.
01
Design
Award-winning aquatic and outdoor architecture, modelled in 3D before it is built.
02
Engineering
Hydraulics, elevations, structural complexity and difficult Hill Country sites resolved on paper first.
03
Material Innovation
Large-format porcelain, glass, specialty finishes and the installation systems that make them permanent in water.
04
Craft
Gunite, waterproofing, tile, stone and plaster executed by specialists and inspected by the designers.
05
Complete Environments
Pool, spa, landscape, structures, fire, kitchen and lighting designed as one composition.
06
Industry Leadership
Teaching, speaking, awards and trade-organisation service that keep the firm at the front of the field.
How we work
Our pool building process.
From a site walk and an honest conversation about investment to commissioning, training and a written warranty.
-
Step 1
Consultation & Site Study
Listen, walk the site, align on budget
We meet at the property, walk the site with you and document grade, soil, access, utilities, trees, views and how you actually want to live outdoors. We discuss investment range honestly before anyone draws a line.
TimingScheduled within 1–2 weeks. -
Step 2
Concept Design & 3D Model
See it before it exists
Bo and the design team develop the concept — geometry, elevations, water and fire, structures, materials — and build a 3D model you can walk through. We revise until the design is right, not until the hours run out.
Timing3–6 weeks. -
Step 3
Engineering, Proposal & Permitting
Resolve the hard parts on paper
Structural, hydraulic and equipment engineering are completed, the proposal is itemised line by line, and we prepare and manage permit, HOA and municipal submissions.
Timing3–8+ weeks, permit-dependent. -
Step 4
Construction
The design team builds the design
Excavation, steel, gunite, plumbing and electrical, waterproofing, tile and stone, decking, structures, equipment and landscape — sequenced and inspected by the people who drew the plans. You receive a schedule and regular site reports.
Timing14–28 weeks, scope-dependent. -
Step 5
Commissioning & Handover
Start-up, training, warranty
We balance the water, programme the automation, verify every system and walk you through operating the pool. Warranty documents and a maintenance plan are handed over in writing.
Timing1–2 weeks.
Why GB IV
Why Austin homeowners choose GB IV.
What sets GB IV apart from other Austin pool builders.
01
One accountable team
The people who design your pool are the people who build it. Your project is not handed to a stranger once the drawings are signed.
02
Gunite, not shortcuts
We build in gunite — shaped to your yard rather than dropped into it — and engineer every shell for Austin's limestone and clay.
03
Proof, not adjectives
Coverings CID recognition in 2025 and 2026, a Southwest Pool & Spa Show Gold for technical and engineering achievement, and 23 SWPSS category awards in two years.
04
Built to be published
Our projects are photographed, awarded and written about because they are designed to a standard most pool contractors do not attempt.
Client reviews
83 Google reviews from Austin homeowners.
Chad has been an invaluable designer through the years, helping me navigate multiple custom pool designs with unmatched expertise.
Eric Morris · Google review
Highly responsive and professional. I would definitely recommend Bo, he is truly top notch!
Claire Stewart · Google review
Galleries
Pool galleries by style.
Where we build
Pool builder service areas.
GB IV builds custom pools in Austin, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Lake Travis, Dripping Springs and the surrounding Hill Country. Construction is limited to Central Texas so that the designers can be on site. Design engagements for architects and estate owners are accepted nationwide.
- Bee Cave
- West Lake Hills
- Lakeway
- Lake Travis
- Spicewood
- Dripping Springs
- Austin
- Tarrytown
- Lakeway
- Rollingwood
- Barton Creek
- Spanish Oaks
- Steiner Ranch
- Driftwood
- Travis County
- Hays County
Before you call
Austin pool FAQs.
Our projects typically begin around $250,000 and most fall between $300,000 and $600,000; estate environments with perimeter overflows, structures and complete landscapes exceed $750,000. Exact pricing follows the site study and design, and our proposals are itemised line by line.
Most GB IV projects run six to nine months from the first consultation to handover: three to six weeks of design, three to eight weeks of engineering and permitting, and fourteen to twenty-eight weeks of construction depending on scope. Estate-scale environments with structures, vanishing edges and extensive hardscape take longer, and we tell you so at the proposal stage.
The designers. GB IV is a true design-build firm: the people who draw the plans manage and inspect construction, and Bo Barnett remains involved in every project from concept to handover. You are never handed to a stranger after the contract is signed.
GB IV builds custom pools in Austin, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Rollingwood, Barton Creek, Lakeway, Spanish Oaks, Lake Travis, Steiner Ranch, Dripping Springs, Driftwood and Tarrytown, across Travis, Hays and Williamson counties. Our office is on Highway 71 in Bee Cave. Construction is limited to Central Texas so the designers can be on site; design engagements for architects and estate owners are accepted nationwide.
