Venture Custom Pools is proud to announce that we have been honored with four 2026 Pool & Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA) International Awards of Excellence, earning Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Merit awards for custom pool projects showcasing exceptional design and craftsmanship.
The 2026 honors include:
- Gold Award — Small Backyard Installation
- Silver Award — Small Backyard Installation
- Bronze Award — Geometric
- Merit Award — Geometric
Receiving four awards across two distinct design categories is an incredible honor for the entire Venture Custom Pools team. More importantly, these awards represent what we strive to deliver for homeowners throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex: custom pools thoughtfully designed around the home, property, and people who will enjoy them.
From transforming compact backyards into beautiful outdoor retreats to creating sophisticated geometric pools defined by clean lines and architectural detail, these award-winning projects demonstrate what is possible when creative pool design meets experienced construction.
What Are the PHTA International Awards of Excellence?
The Pool & Hot Tub Alliance International Awards of Excellence recognize outstanding pool, spa, hot tub, and water feature installations from PHTA member companies in the United States and around the world.
Hundreds of projects are submitted to the competition, with entries evaluated by industry professionals on criteria that include craftsmanship, overall beauty, design creativity, materials, project cohesiveness, adherence to applicable standards and codes, and unique qualities that set a project apart.
Awards are presented at the Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Merit levels.
For Venture Custom Pools, earning recognition in all four award levels in 2026 is an exciting testament to the creativity, attention to detail, and construction expertise our team brings to custom pool projects across North Texas.
Gold Award: Small Backyard Installation
A smaller backyard doesn’t have to mean compromising on design.
Our 2026 PHTA Gold Award for Small Backyard Installation recognizes a project that demonstrates how thoughtful planning can transform a limited outdoor footprint into a beautiful and functional backyard retreat.
Small backyard pool design presents a unique challenge. Every square foot matters, and the placement, proportions, features, decking, and surrounding outdoor living areas must work together.
That’s where custom design becomes especially important.
Rather than trying to fit a standard pool design into an unconventional space, our team approaches the property as a whole. The goal is to create a pool that feels as though it was always intended to be part of the home.
Winning Gold in this category is particularly meaningful because it highlights the level of creativity and precision required to make a smaller space feel extraordinary.
Silver Award: Small Backyard Installation
Venture Custom Pools also received a 2026 PHTA Silver Award for Small Backyard Installation, giving our team two internationally recognized projects in this category.
For homeowners throughout DFW, this recognition reinforces an important point: you don’t need an estate-sized backyard to create an incredible custom pool.
Compact and uniquely shaped properties can offer opportunities for creative design solutions. Strategic pool placement, integrated spas, tanning ledges, water features, decking, landscaping, and outdoor living elements can all help maximize the available space while maintaining a cohesive design.
The result can be a backyard that feels larger, functions better, and gives homeowners an entirely new way to enjoy their property.
Bronze Award: Geometric Pool Design
Clean lines, intentional symmetry, and strong architectural relationships make geometric pools a natural fit for many North Texas homes.
Venture Custom Pools’ 2026 PHTA Bronze Award in the Geometric category recognizes our team’s ability to combine these architectural elements with the functionality expected from a modern outdoor living environment.
A successful geometric pool involves much more than creating a rectangular shape. Proportion, elevations, materials, decking, water features, spas, sun shelves, and sightlines all influence how the finished pool relates to the home.
When these details are thoughtfully considered from the beginning, the pool becomes an extension of the home’s architecture rather than a separate feature in the backyard.
Merit Award: Geometric Pool Design
Our fourth 2026 honor is a PHTA Merit Award in the Geometric category.
Together, the Bronze and Merit awards demonstrate the versatility possible within geometric pool design. Two homeowners may both prefer clean, contemporary lines, yet their finished pools can look completely different. Architecture, property dimensions, elevation changes, entertainment needs, materials, landscaping, and personal preferences all influence the final design.
That’s why every Venture pool begins with the homeowner’s property and vision rather than a predetermined template.
Custom should truly mean custom.
Award-Winning Pool Design Across Dallas-Fort Worth
While these four awards recognize individual projects, they also reflect the experience and design philosophy Venture Custom Pools brings to homeowners throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and North Texas.
With locations serving the DFW area from Plano, Roanoke, and Waxahachie, Venture Custom Pools designs and builds custom gunite swimming pools and outdoor living spaces throughout communities including:
Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Prosper, Celina, Roanoke, Southlake, Westlake, Northlake, Keller, Flower Mound, Trophy Club, Waxahachie, and surrounding North Texas communities.
Different areas of DFW can present very different design considerations. Lot dimensions, architectural styles, HOA requirements, municipal permitting, terrain, and how homeowners use their outdoor spaces can vary considerably from one community to another.
Our experience throughout North Texas allows our designers and construction team to approach each project with an understanding of both the homeowner’s goals and the environment in which the pool will be built.
More Than an Award-Winning Pool
Industry awards are an incredible honor, but our goal isn’t simply to design a pool that looks impressive in a photograph.
It has to work for the people who live there.
A family that wants plenty of shallow space for children has different priorities than homeowners envisioning an elegant environment for entertaining. Someone with a compact urban property needs a different approach than a homeowner creating a complete estate-level outdoor retreat.
That’s why the Venture Custom Pools process begins by understanding how each homeowner wants to use their backyard.
The pool’s size and shape are only the beginning. Materials, water features, spas, decking, outdoor kitchens, pergolas, pool houses, seating areas, landscaping, lighting, and other outdoor living elements can work together to create one cohesive environment.
The ultimate goal is not simply to build a swimming pool.
It’s to create a backyard that belongs to the home and the people who live there.
Continuing a Tradition of Award-Winning Pool Construction in DFW
The four 2026 PHTA International Awards of Excellence add to a growing list of industry recognition for Venture Custom Pools.
As a third-generation, family-owned pool builder with more than 80 years of history, Venture Custom Pools has built its reputation around craftsmanship, custom design, and a commitment to creating outdoor spaces that stand the test of time.