Reynolds Polymer Technology, Inc. in partnership with international property developers Ecoworld Ballymore Group, announced the unveiling of the world’s first “floating” swimming pool. Spanning 82 feet across two buildings, 115 feet in the air, the pool consists of one, solid, 14-inch thick piece of acrylic and is made from totally transparent polymer, which was engineered and manufactured in the small Colorado town of Grand Junction.
The acrylic will be the main feature of the Embassy Gardens’ Sky Pool in London, England. “Manufacturing and engineering of the Sky Pool has pushed the envelope of what can be done in large acrylic structures,” says Paul O. Gardner, Vice President of Engineering, Quality, & Safety at Reynolds Polymer Technology, Inc. “The team in Grand Junction has overcome incredibly tight tolerances and requirements to arrive at a finished project that is unexplainable without seeing it. Words can’t adequately describe the finished product; it must be witnessed.”
Shipping proved to be another major task of the project. Transporting such a large structure, which weighs 122,000 pounds, from Grand Junction to London, required police escorts, road closures, removal of traffic lights and street signs, as well as a full day closure of Nine Elms Lane which spans along the River Thames in London, as the pool arrived via the water.
Ballymore’s CEO Sean Mulryan says, “It was an idea that really stood out and that we thought was quite special. It’s only because of advances in technology that we’re able to do this. Swimming in it will make you feel like you’re floating in air.”
“The design and engineering that went into Sky Pool involved many people across multiple continents,” Declan McLaughlin, CEO of Reynolds Polymer says. “Sometimes you are presented with challenges that seem insurmountable, and Sky Pool was one of those. However, it inspired our organization to go above and beyond and execute an inspirational iconic idea of a floating pool. Incredibly proud to be part of this once in a lifetime legacy challenge.”
Reynolds Polymer Technology, Inc. focuses on making the “impossible” possible. Withover 35 years’ experience, and over 3,000 projects spanning 59 countries, Reynolds Polymer is constantly reinventing the definition of what can be done with acrylic. In addition to unique casting processes and an unsurpassed bonding technology, Reynolds Polymer’s highly trained design engineers work hard to bring dreams to life, and have created some of the world’s most visited acrylic structures.
For more information, visit reynoldspolymer.com.
