The world’s first “sky pool” has been unveiled — and it’s high enough to give anyone a touch of vertigo. Towering far above the street balanced between two residential buildings in Nine Elms in London like a precarious nest, the sky pool isn’t for everyone.

    But the newly built swimming experience looks like it has to be tried if you’re not bothered by heights. Situated in the capital’s new riverside district beside Battersea Power Station, the glass-encased pool is suspended 10 stories, or 33.5 meters up.

    The pool is entirely transparent and structure free, 25 meters long, 5 meters wide and 3 meters deep with a water depth of 1.2 meters.

    Acting as a bridge between two apartment buildings, swimmers are afforded a view right through the bottom of the pool down to the street below, and it’s even got a bar, loungers, a spa and an orangery.

    It’s in Embassy Gardens, and is a part of a new development which will have 2,000 homes beside the new American Embassy in the capital. Embassy Gardens takes design inspiration from the Meatpacking District of New York with floor to ceiling windows and brick facades.

    Developers Ballymore and Eco World, headed by Sean Mulryan, used glass that measures 20 cm thick to build the pool in the US$1.57 billion development to give an experience more akin to an aquarium than a pool.

    He explained, “At Ballymore we like to push the boundaries on all aspects of design, the sky pool’s transparent structure is the result of significant advancements in technologies over the last decade. “The experience of the pool will be truly unique, it will feel like floating through the air in central London.”

    Sadly, the pool will only be open to residents of the building who front up US$944,300 for an apartment. Those people lucky enough to live there will have a flawless panorama of the Palace of Westminster and the London Eye when the second phase of the development is released to market in September.

世界第一个“空中泳池”近日惊艳亮相— 它的高度足以让任何人头晕目眩。空中泳池架设在伦敦九榆树巷两座居民楼之间，高高地俯瞰着街道，像一个岌岌可危的鸟巢，并不适合每个人。

但是，到这座新建的泳池畅游一番似乎很值得体验，前提是你不恐高。

这个玻璃外壳的泳池坐落在伦敦泰晤士河岸新区、巴特西发电厂旁边，高悬在10层楼之上，高达33.5米。

该泳池通体透明且无结构，长25米，宽5米，深3米，水深1.2米。空中泳池将充当两座居民楼之间的桥梁，游泳者刚好可以透过池底看到下方街道的景色。另外，游泳池旁还配备有酒吧、躺椅、Spa以及温室橘园。

空中泳池位于大使花园，是一个新开发项目的一部分。该开发项目位于伦敦的新美国大使馆旁边，届时将会有2000户入住。

大使花园从纽约的肉库区汲取设计灵感，拥有由顶及地的玻璃窗及幕墙。

房地产开发商巴利摩和Eco World耗费15.7亿美元，使用20厘米厚的玻璃打造出这个更像水族馆而不是游泳池的项目。

项目负责人肖恩· 马里安解释道：“在巴利摩，我们喜欢打破所有设计方面的界限，空中泳池的透明结构是过去十年科技巨大进步的结果。空中泳池的体验绝对是独一无二的，你会感觉就像漂浮在伦敦中央上空一样。”

可惜，该泳池将只对预付了94.43万美元购买公寓的居民开放。

当该开发项目的二期工程九月份上市时，有幸住进去的人将有机会一览无余地欣赏西敏宫和伦敦眼的全景。

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【眩晕】xuànyūn vertigo a sensation of dizziness or abnormal motion resulting from a disorder of the sense of balance

【预付】yùfù front up pay (money) at the beginning of a business arrangement