Swimming over the abyss: a swimming pool in one of Vancouver's skyscrapers awaits only the brave
There are many attractions in the world designed for the brave. A swimming pool in one of the multi-storey buildings in Vancouver, Canada, "hovering" at a height of 60 meters, is one of them. By itself, the idea of raising an artificial reservoir to a height is not new, but only in this case the pool was provided with a transparent bottom.
Through the glass floor of the pool, the surroundings of the residential complex The Arc and the area with recreation areas located exactly below it are clearly visible. The pool itself is small — its dimensions are only 11 by 2.7 meters, and the depth is 1.5 meters, but for those who risk diving into it, it seems that they are floating above the abyss.
Everything looks very extreme, but the engineers who designed the unusual building are reassuring. According to them, the acrylic glass replacing part of the bottom of the pool has a thickness of 15 cm and is able to withstand the weight of 1,650 passenger cars. So, swimming at altitude, relaxation lovers risk no more than those who prefer terrestrial reservoirs.
The Concord Pacific company, which owns the residential complex The Arc, gave the architects the task to create something unusual, which has not been done before in Canada. Engineer Mehran Parnian from the architectural bureau Francl Architecture, which made the project, recalls that the client was very demanding and certainly wanted something iconic, striking the imagination.
Vancouver is a typical modern Canadian city, many of whose skyscrapers are like two drops of water. Therefore, in recent years, the authorities have begun to encourage unusual, bold projects that give the metropolis an identity. Mehran Parnian and his team coped with the task with honor and now The Arc can be considered a tourist attraction of the city.
Unfortunately, if you want to test your nerves and sail over the city between two towers, then you will not succeed. The Arc is a closed and well-guarded complex for people with above-average incomes and outsiders do not happen there. Therefore, you can admire the pool for the brave only from the square between the towers of the building, well, in photos and videos.
If in Vancouver the pool was raised to a skyscraper, then in the Polish city of Mshchonow they are building a reservoir, which, on the contrary, will be at a great depth. The bottom point of the bottom in it will be at the mark - 40 meters!
Keywords: Architect | Pool | Vancouver | Canada | Transparency | Courage