Overview
It’s the story of the pool that’s gone viral… but in a good (if not slightly unnerving) way.
Designed by Walter P Moore, Market Square Tower is a recently completed high-rise apartment tower in downtown Houston, Texas that is crowned by a rather unconventional aquatic feature. Part of the penthouse-level amenity deck on the 40th floor, the Sky Pool is an infinity-edged pool that challenges swimmers to venture 10 feet beyond the building’s edge atop a transparent acrylic overhang through which they can view the downtown streets 500 feet below. The tallest residential high-rise in downtown Houston, Market Square Tower has also earned the distinction of having “the tallest clear, cantilevered pool in the United States” and the first such in Texas.
Since the posting of the now-famous video, the Sky Pool has captured widespread media coverage for its impressive engineering and is attracting the attentions of risk-takers worldwide, even though it is for residents only. It has been featured on broadcast media (both ABC and NBC news affiliates, including NBC News’ TODAY show), in online media (including Architectural Digest, Travel + Leisure, Cosmopolitan, and the UK’s Daily Mail), and has received more than 55 million views and shares on social media.
Walter P Moore provided structural, civil, and traffic engineering. Other team members included BMS Management, Inc. (owner), Woodbranch Investments (developer), Jackson & Ryan Architects (architect), D.E. Harvey Builders (contractor), Kudela & Weinheimer (landscape architect), and Reynolds Polymer (aquarium specialist).
SELECTED PRESS COVERAGE
NBC News’ TODAY // 10 April 2017 // Savannah Guthrie
This glass-bottom pool 40 stories up is not for the faint of heart
Architectural Digest // 10 April 2017 // Sophie Hirsh
This Transparent Swimming Pool Hangs over Building’s Edge, 40 Stories Aboveground
NBC DFW // 10 April 2017 // Jennifer Phillips
New Houston Pool May Give You Texas-Sized Jitters
Travel + Leisure // 10 April 2017 // Talia Avakian
Take a Swim 500 Feet in the Air in This Crazy Glass-Bottomed Pool
CNN // 10 April 2017 // YouTube
Glass bottom pool will freak you out
Cosmopolitan // 09 April 2017 // Laura Beck
This Sky Pool Is Extremely Terrifying and I Want to Swim in It Very Badly.
