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A dream pool hovering above the street
T BELOW: This pool has become a landmark in Hawthorn Image Credit: Craig Moodie
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SPLASH!
February/March 2022
he 2021 National Commercial Project of the Year, announced at the SPASA Australia Awards of Excellence in September, is a unique pool. It is one of only a handful a pools in the world that is suspended in the air, anchored between two highrises. The visual impact of standing six storeys below and looking up through the windows into the pool is a breathtaking experience that adds immensely to the Hawthorn streetscape. Nathan Kinder, sales engineer for Aloha Pools, says they were very excited to have the opportunity to work on a project such as this. “We really wanted to be involved – pools like this don’t come along too often. But we were
presented with something that was going to be a challenge to engineer and construct. The marketing created an expectation – and it looked impressive,” says Kinder. “However, the engineering designs currently on the table during the tender state weren’t going to achieve the type of structure the marketing had been promoting. It wouldn’t have met expectations. It would have been chunky, and we thought we could do better.” They decided to forego using the concrete that was in the original plans. After all, if steel was being used to hold up concrete, it could just as easily be used to hold up water. It required a new way of thinking and an investigation into alternative methods.