Most rooftop pools offer a great view. At London’s Embassy Gardens, the rooftop pool is the view. The future upscale development will boast the world’s first Sky Pool, which will transparently connect communal rooftop terraces of two ten-story, luxury apartment buildings as if suspended in mid-air. Take that concept for a few laps in your head. Yes, a floating sky pool, which stands to become the world’s coolest pool unless you’re afraid of water, heights, or large open spaces 115 feet above the ground. Up there, residents will virtually swim against the Gulfstream.
Sky Pool will serve as Embassy Gardens’ main attraction of the Nine Elms neighborhood in Southwest London’s Battersea riverside district—currently undergoing extensive upgrades to attract affluent residents, particularly from Asia. Embassy Gardens construction begins this year with a scheduled 2018 move-in date for wealthy thrill seekers. Apartments will start at nearly $950,000 with penthouses costing more.
High-end aquarium designers will construct the transparent, glass-bottomed pool which will measure 90 feet long by 19 feet wide and approximately 10 feet deep (water depth is only four feet deep)—encased in a sturdy eight-inch-thick glass. Residents can traverse the pool to swim to the complex’s rooftop bar, decks, spa, and even an orangery. For residents who want to go the dry route, an adjacent alternative bridge walkway is available.
“The experience of the pool will be truly unique,” said Sean Mulryan, CEO of developer Ballymore Group which is building the development with partner EcoWorld. “It will feel like floating through the air in central London.”
Sky Pool sounds like it will transform residents into Superman…or perhaps Aquaman. The “blue azure” pool is a spectacle—flanked by the luxurious green-glazed bricks of the flats, environmental gardens, solar panels, and lush landscaping—and views of the River Thames, Westminster Palace and the London Eye. Surely London tourists will flock to see it as it makes its way into tour guide books. And for those with extreme hydrophobia (fear of water), acrophobia (fear of heights), or aeroacrophobia (fear of high, open spaces), Embassy Gardens still has a bar.
Photos courtesy of Embassy Gardens