World's First 'Sky Pool' To Make Its Debut In Nine Elms
The ‘Floating' Swimming Sensation is due to open this Spring
The nearly completed Sky Pool, with the US Embassy in the background
Take a look up next time you pass through Embassy Gardens in Nine Elms. The long-awaited Sky Pool is now in place and visible from the ground.
Hailed as the World''s ‘first floating pool', the immense structure straddles two residential towers in the Legacy Building, and was finally craned into place last autumn.
The 25-metre long acrylic structure will allow members of the development''s residents club to glide, 35 metres up in the sky, between two residential buildings. Running a few months behind schedule the acrylic tank was finally lifted into place by one of the world''s largest mobile cranes, after journeying from Colorado, USA.
While Ecoworld Ballymore – the developers behind Embassy Gardens – have never revealed the cost of the pool, its creation has been over seven years in the making. It forms part of the Legacy Buildings' Sky Deck and Orangery residents' leisure complex, stemming from an idea first mooted back in 2013. Creative teams for the site''s developers were discussing where to locate Embassy Gardens'' outdoor swimming pool and decided the only space large enough was between the Legacy Buildings… and up in the air. They envisaged a transparent structure so swimmers could see the ground and people below could see the sky.
Hal Currey and Arup Associates - the architects who were tasked with bringing British architect Sir Terry Farrell''s master plan for the area to life - teamed up with structural engineers Eckersley O'Callaghan to develop detailed drawings, showing how the 14-metre distance could be spanned by an acrylic structure.
After producing a series of technical drawings, the dimensions of the pool were decided. With sides 200mm thick and 3.2 metres deep, and with a bottom 300mm thick, the 50-tonne acrylic pool now spans the 14-metres between the buildings, with steps and filtrations systems sitting at either end.
Passers-by will also be treated to a light display after dark, with five different modes of illumination being promised.
According to Brian Eckersley, Director of structural engineers Eckersley O'Callaghan, "It will be like flying. Once you swim off, you can look right down."
February 16, 2021