Glass pool will bridge two 10-storey buildings in Embassy Gardens’ new Battersea development
For anyone wishing to make
a high-level splash, London’s latest planned addition to the skyline could be
just the thing. A 25-metre swimming pool suspended between two apartment blocks
10 storeys up is part of a new development near the former Battersea power
station.
The transparent “sky pool”
will, the developers say, be the first of its kind in the world. Swimmers will
be able to look down 35 metres to the world below as they take a dip, with only
20cm of glass between them and the outside world.
Residents of the buildings,
where flats cost upwards of £602,000, will be able to swim between the two, and
recover from their exertions on a sky deck which boasts a spa, summer bar and
orangery with views of the Houses of Parliament.
The developers Ballymore
say the pool, which has been granted planning permission, will be entirely
transparent and structure free. It is designed by Arup Associates, with
specialist input from aquarium designers Reynolds.
The pool will be part of
the Embassy Gardens development at Nine Elms, a huge £15bn building project in south-west London which is creating thousands
of homes, many of them in luxury apartment blocks. There is an indoor pool for
the fainthearted.
Ballymore’s chairman and
CEO, Sean Mulryan, said: “My vision for the sky pool
stemmed from a desire to push the boundaries in the capability of construction
and engineering, I wanted to do something that had never been done before.”
He said: “The experience of
the pool will be truly unique, it will feel like floating through the air in
central London.”
Henry Pryor, a buying agent
for wealthy clients, said he thought the plans for the pool were “genuinely
crackers” and wondered “are there enough exhibitionists to fill it?”.
He said: “It’s not easy to say for sure what the extras like pools, tennis
courts and home cinemas add to a home, but for the first time I can honestly
say that whilst my admiration for the architect is close to reverence this
absurd addition must surely be the biggest mistake I have ever come across.”
Swimming pools, and their
location, are used as a selling point for developers toting the latest luxury
buildings. The Shard boasts the highest pool in
western
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