Is India going to build the world's first sky pool???

Twilight Star, an upcoming residential development in Surat, is a five-tower development will feature a 20-metre-long, 7-m wide, fully transparent swimming pool, suspended between two apartment blocks. The blocks are twelve-storeys each, and the pool is at the topmost level. There are a total of 120 units in  the project. All the terraces are also connected with glass-bottomed skywalk bridges so that all the towers get access to pool from their very own building's terrace - a functional element that also creates an unusal feature of a sky-walk within a residential complex. Other amenities on the terrace include a walking track and a café. 

Called ‘sky pools’, the special feature of these pools is that there is no visual barrier between the edge of the pool and the city beyond. This allows the user to have the unique experience of floating above the skyline of the city. Both the London and the Surat projects are high-end residential developments and it is believed that this glass-bottomed swimming pool feature will add to the luxury component of these projects. But the one in Surat is connected at the twelfth floor, while the London pool is slated to be connected at the tenth floor level. Enthralling, to say the least!

The pool will be built using similar technology that is employed to construct large aquarium tunnels.  A section of the pool will also jut out from the facade of the buildings, heightening the experience of floating in mid-air. The sky-pool will overlook the building's other pool on the ground, offering another unique experience. 

Construction began two years ago and the developers claim to get the civil work ready in the next eight  months. Thus the project will be complete almost one year before London's Nine Elms. The project is designed by Sanjay Josshi of Black Ink, Surat while the Design Engineering is done by SACPL, Mumbai. 

It is heartening to note that such engineering advances and architecturally daring projects are being planned in India, not just the metros but Tier II cities as well. So, would India be the first to build a sky-pool? Let's wait and watch!