Floating is something you associate with swimming pools, but rarely does a pool do the floating.
This acrylic-bottom swimming pool is turning heads at a new, luxury development in London.
The Sky Pool is a completely see-through aqueduct at the top of the Embassy Gardens, a block of designer apartmentsbuilt in central near the new US Embassy in Nine Elms.
Suspended 35m in the air, the Sky Pool has caught the imagination of the city, as London emerges from Covid restrictions and into balmy, early summer weather. Swimmers seen swimming overhead are aparently fearless.
The developer says it is the "world's first floating pool".
"When you're looking through the water you will not see the structure. You will genuinely have the feeling of floating in air," says Roger Black, Creative Director at developer Ballymore.
At 25 metres long, you'll feel like you're flying, not swimming suspended in the skyline.
As a bridge between two tower blocks there's "nothing but clarity" between you and the ground below. Fortunately there's a walkway beside, for those with a fear of heights.
The invisible aqueduct is the gravity-defying centrepiece of the Embassy Gardens project. Photo / Ballymore
"You can be in your dressing gown on a Saturday morning and then come down through the building, cross a bridge and go to the pool and the gym," said Hal Currey, of HAL architects who delivered the project.
"It's part and parcel of the way we thought about these buildings gelling together."
The outdoor pool is the focal point of the ambitious redevelopment in the Nine Elms borough, near Battersea. Built around the new American diplomatic station to the UK – Embassy House is part of a huge 1,500 room development and Embassy Gardens green space.
American visitors will feel right at home, having taken inspiration from the New York High Line redevelopment - Manhattan's own hanging gardens.
Having caught the attention of the internet, the question on everyone's mind is: would you dare go for a dip?
The Embassy Gardens project is at the centre of an ambitious London's development. Photo / Supplied, Ballymore Group
A video of brave bathers on the BBCNews Twitter account has drawn over 16 million views, and several strong reactions.
