New futuristic pool to open next summer connected by two blocks at the 10th floor

BY JAMES TWOMEY
james@slpmedia.co.uk

A new swimming pool is opening next summer that will make your butterfly stroke feel like you can actually fly – 115ft in the air.

The final tests are under way for the world’s first Sky Pool that will connect two residential buildings at the 10th floor in the new Embassy Gardens development in Battersea.

The pool is 25m long, 5m wide and 3m deep, holding 90,000 gallons of water and is entirely transparent, made of 20cm thick glass.

The sky deck at the top of the two buildings includes a spa, summer bar and orangery for residents to relax and take in the views of London sights such as the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye.

Over the past year teams of architects, engineers and consultants have been busy testing and developing the pool structure in its factory in the USA.

The acrylic is now in its final phase of construction and is currently undergoing its final testing and treatments before it will be prepared for shipping to the UK which will be a lengthy and complex process.

The pool will then need to be lifted and secured in place before works are completed on the Sky Deck, but the pool will be open next summer.

Designed by architects Arup Associates, with specialist input from Eckersley O’Callaghan and aquarium designers Reynolds, the experience is intended to be more like an aquarium than a pool.

The Embassy Gardens development will create nearly 2,000 new homes, landscaped gardens, new bars and restaurants with a variety of outdoor spaces and 130,000sqft of shopping space.

The second phase of construction is being delivered by EcoWorld Ballymore and phase one, which is now complete and occupied, was delivered by Ballymore Group.

Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Liew Kee Sin, executive vice chairman of EcoWorld International, said: “The construction of the Sky Pool has been a very exciting project, which EcoWorld Ballymore are delighted to be turning into a reality.

The opening next year will be a huge milestone for the development, and for the Nine Elms area more generally, as the pool really will be a spectacle that locals and visitors to the area alike will want to see.

It is a product of unique ambition, innovation, perseverance and imagination, we hope both residents and businesses in the area will be proud to have the Sky Pool on their doorsteps.”

Sean Mulryan, chairman at Ballymore, said: “The vision for the Sky Pool stemmed from a desire to push the boundaries in the capability of construction and engineering, to do something that had never been done before.

The Sky Pool’s transparent structure is the result of significant advancements in technologies over the last decade.
“The experience of the pool will be truly unique, it will feel like floating through the air in central London.”