London High Rise Offers the First 'Floating' Transparent Swimming Pool, 10 Stories Up. Oh, Hell No.
Source - Incredible aerial photos show the moment swimmers take to the water - 115 feet above the ground.
The world's first floating sky pool opened in London on May 19 and swimmers were seen taking a dip in the vertigo-inducing pool on Bank Holiday Monday, the hottest day of the year so far.
One picture taken from above by photographer Jason Hawkes using a drone show people lounging on the deck chairs near the pool sides as they basked in sunshine.
The transparent pool sits on the 10th floor and is suspended between two blocks of luxury flats in Nine Elms, south west London.
The first of its kind and entirely transparent, the 25m-long, 5m-wide and 3m-deep infinity pool, has been hailed as the most exclusive venue to take a dip in Britain as only residents and guests of the Embassy Gardens flats it sits atop are allowed access to the pool.
By way of full disclosure, Glenny posted about this a month or so ago, when the plan to open this monstrosity was still on the drawing board. And sane man that he is, he hated the idea as much as I do.
Where do we even begin to list all the reasons why this weapons-grade nightmare fuel is a tremendously terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea that never should've made it past the theoretical stage? The floating pool should never have been floated as an idea, never mind survived being approved, designed and built. And not just because Londoners have enough to worry about without the risk of damage to their eyes with the sun reflecting off of my pasty white Irish skin, refracted through water and plexiglass and potentially blasting pedestrian's corneas out like a beam from the Death Star.
Instead, how about if I cite the law? Specifically this law:
The Law of Gravity. The one that popped into Isaac Newton's head when he saw an apple fall off a tree, was published in 1687 and is still undefeated. Personally, my mom insisted all her kids take swimming lessons and I've never been uncomfortable in the water and will swim anywhere without fear. But all those hours I spent in the polluted waters of Wessagussett Beach learning the back stroke and the Australian crawl from the lifeguards are going to be of precious little help when I'm the m1+m2 being divided by r2 and multiplied by G and plummeting to the pavement at F.
Oh, and don't waste your breath giving me the company line about how stable, secure and perfectly safe this is. Never forget that whichever construction company ended up with the contract on this thing put in the lowest bid. And I've seen what happens when the builders cut every corner to get the deal done. Because Newton's Law is free, unlimited and wins every time. Every Masshole remembers the Big Dig costing $25 billion dollars and still managed to drop a massive ceiling tile on some poor woman driving through it. But if you're a little older, you remember when the Hancock Tower - the one that's the focus of every skyline shot of Boston - was raining huge sheets of glass down upon streets below like giant, razor sharp, death-dealing hailstones. And that was built by an insurance company.
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Seriously, I consider myself a loyal, patriotic American. But if a foreign power wanted me to spill any secrets I might have, all they'd have to do is threaten to force me to swim across the Sky Pool and I'd sell out my country in a heartbeat. (Note: I have no secrets that can't be found in my search history. So don't bother.) What did it say? "Only residents and guests of the Embassy Gardens flats are allowed access to the pool?" That works out just fine for me. Not just because of the obvious danger, but because half the swimmers in the pool will be pissing and shitting themselves anyway. As for all the commoners on the street who are not allowed up there for a horrifying terror swim? Wear a helmet and watch for falling bathers. And be grateful you're a poor like me.