The Hawthorn Park sky pool build - an amazing feat

with Travis Fell of Aloha Pools

How did this project originally come about?

The striking design was the brainchild of Rothelowman Architects and they conceived the architectural concept well before our involvement in the project.

The original pool design was not going to meet the visual aspirations of the developer and architect so Commercial Pool Consulting was engaged to re-think the design, engineering and construction methodology.

What is new/different or innovative about this project?

This pool is one of only a few pools in the world that is suspended in the air, anchored between two buildings. The construction is a hybrid steel superstructure utilising a highly customised Myrtha Pool system. The addition of a series of large, acrylic viewing panels in the walls and floor of the pool adds another layer of innovation, and makes it quite a unique experience to use the Sky Pool.

What were the challenges of this build?

There are many complexities involved in the design and construction of a fully suspended pool, so Greg Sullivan from Commercial Pool Consulting worked tightly with the project team from Hickory Builders to overcome factors such as:

• acoustic isolation, which was required to eliminate noise for the residents in the apartments below

• lateral restraints, which were engineered to deal with any possible earthquake load

• the expected deflection of the supporting beams under the load of the water

• the weight of the structure, which was counteracted by using a series of composite carbon fibre reinforced members

• wind engineering & loads were studied so that the pool structure could withstand very high wind loads

• a fail-proof system was required for the sealing and monitoring of the pool window panels

• the integrity of the water-proofing liner had to be uncompromised

The acrylic panels and stainless steel systems had to be pre-ordered from Myrtha Pools in Italy before the supporting structure was even in place, so the schematics had to be exact. Once thedesign challenges had been met by Commercial Pool Consulting, the team at Aloha Pools delivered on the physical construction of this amazing spanning structure.

And if this wasn’t already enough of a challenge, throw a global pandemic into the mix with strict Covid restrictions that included limited numbers on-site and serious interruptions to the supply chain, especially with imported parts - the windows for the pool only arrived from Italy 24 hrs before the site crane was taken down!

What do you love about this pool?

For most people, this would be the visual impact of standing 6 storeys below the pool, looking up through the windows into the structure. For me, it’s the behind-the-scenes technical details, working with a talented team at Hickory and Commercial Pool Consulting to overcome the challenges, and using materials and methods that haven’t been used in this combination before. I am proud to be part of a team that achieved the exact result that was asked in the original architectural design brief. Have you swum in this pool yet?

The local residents all highly anticipated the unveiling of this pool, and I’m sure a middleaged pool builder swimming around in it would have detracted from the otherwise striking appearance of it! So, for me personally, the answer is no, but a number of the Hickory & Aloha team haven’t been able to resist.

I would particularly like to thank:

• Steve Cahill, Julie, Chenchen and the rest of the talented team at Hickory Builders

• Greg Sullivan and his staff at Commercial Pool Consulting

• Ray Taylor and the construction team at Aloha Pools

• David at Myrtha Pools

Without talented, dedicated and disciplined people like these, it wouldn’t be possible to build projects with this level of complexity.

Photos courtesy of Hickory and Dahua Group