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HAL Architects designs 'swimmable bridge' that connects two residential buildings

Multifamily Housing

HAL Architects designs 'swimmable bridge' that connects two residential buildings

The project has been dubbed Sky Pool.


By David Malone, Managing Editor | July 19, 2021
Sky Pool from below
Sky Pool from below

Sky Pool, a swimmable bridge connecting two buildings in London’s Embassy Gardens development, has completed. The project sits alongside the US Embassy in Nine Elms, London.

The nearly 50-foot-long transparent pool connects the buildings ten stories up. Sky Pool was originally conceived as a swimmable aqueduct, but the design process evolved in order to take advantage of the views across London that the space offered.

 

Sky Pool at dusk

 

The pool is made of clear acrylic panels. The bottom of the pool uses 14.1-inch-thick panels while the walls measure seven inches thick. 

HAL Architects designed the pool and claims it is the first-of-its kind in the world. Reynolds Polymers fabricated the panels and Eckersley O’Callaghan provided structural engineering services for the project.

 

Sky Pool aerial

 

Someone swimming in the Sky Pool

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