A 26-story apartment building proposed for construction in downtown Des Moines may include a cantilevered glass pool. The design calls for the 11,000-gallon glass pool to be suspended over the building’s west side. If built, the pool would have glass walls and a glass bottom panel, and would extend 11 feet beyond the edge of the building.

Blackbird Investments is building the $85 million development, and believes that the uniqueness of the glass pool will bring additional interest to the building. As designed, the structure can hold a pool about twice as large. According to the developers, the pool will add about $250,000 to the price of the building, and will be reserved for tenant use only. The glass walls of the pool will be about 6 inches thick, and consist of about 10 layers of laminated glass.

Cantilevered pools are relatively uncommon, and are found mostly at hotels in larger cities, and on cruise ships. The pool, if built, will be the only cantilevered pool in Des Moines.

Concrete provides the structure for cantilevered pools, and must take into account expansion and contraction that occurs naturally as the result of changes in temperature year-round. In the summer, the concrete deck can reach temperatures as high as 140° F. In the winter, temperatures can dip below 0° F. That variation in temperature can cause concrete to expand or contract by as much as in inch. Aside from temperature, the pool deck must also be able to accommodate movement in the building.

Swimmers will be able to see out the bottom of the pool, thanks to glass bottom panels. They’ll have a view of 801 Grand, the tallest building in Iowa, and Pappajohn Sculpture Park, a popular art installation in Des Moines.

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Photo Credit: designmilk, via Flickr.com