The breathtaking infinity pool is currently in the planning stage.
If your morning swim just seems a little pedestrian, and you’re looking to raise the stakes a little, why not raise them 55 storeys off the ground? That’s what you’ll get at London’s next planned lido, an incredible infinity pool sat atop a skyscraper, and boasting 360-degree views over the city. Because, if your swimming pool isn’t wildly OTT, you aren’t dreaming big enough, darling.
See also: This incredible ‘sky pool’ is set to open in London this year.
The infinity pool is the idea of Compass Pools, who specialise in quite nice backyard pools but have seemingly decided to go all out for their splashy (sorry) new project. Deciding that infinity pools are a little last year, the company designed this 600,000 litre behemoth, crafted to fit atop an as-yet-unspecified 55 storey building. When/if built, it’ll be the only building in the world with a 360-degree infinity pool, as well as perhaps the most confusing pool to actually get into.
See also: The sky-high cocktail bar with its own pool.
As you can see from the pictures, there don’t seem to be any stairs to enter, prompting one colleague to wonder whether you’ll be lowered in by helicopter. Per Compass Pools, “swimmers will access the pool through a rotating spiral staircase based on the door of a submarine, rising from the pool floor when someone wants to get in or out”. Since this isn’t present in the press pictures, one can only assume they’re currently depicting the most elaborate Sims torture of all time…
Don’t fret about the glass cracking though, as this infinity pool will be made of cast acrylic, to maintain the perfect clarity of the water. Meanwhile, the floor will also be transparent, as those wandering below will gaze up at the swimmers, seeming to breaststroke straight out of the sun. Compass Pools are making it as energy-neutral as possible, as the pool is heated by waste energy from the building’s air conditioning, and a built-in anemometer will monitor the wind speed and temperature, ensuring that water doesn’t get blown down to the streets below.
Of course, nothing is particularly close to being confirmed at this early stage. The pool’s architect, Alex Kemsley, freely admitted “we actually started with the pool design and essentially said, ‘how do we put a building underneath this?’”, so there’s a lot of planning permission hurdles to clear before construction begins. A five-star hotel is mooted as the ideal tenant, but they’ll need to work out where the building is going before that happens. Still, it’s a pretty excellent opening act of a film I’m dubbing Avengers: Infinity Pool…
All images courtesy of Compass Pools.