Embassy Gardens

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File:Pointy building in Nine Elms (49287243798).jpg

Embassy Gardens is a residential and business development built by Ballymore Group in the Nine Elms regeneration zone in London, England, surrounding the United States Embassy building opened in 2017. It features the transparent Sky Pool for swimming, which is suspended 115 feet in the air between the development's prominent buildings.{{cite news |last1=Cherner |first1=Jessica |title=Suspended 115 Feet in the Air, the World's First Floating Pool Is Unveiled in London |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/sky-pool |access-date=2 June 2021 |work=Architectural Digest |date=30 April 2021}}

On 16 February 2012, Wandsworth Council approved Ballymore Group's plans for the 15-acre development. Embassy Gardens was intended to provide "up to 1,982 new homes alongside shops, cafes, bars, restaurants, business space, a 100 bed hotel, a health centre, children's playgrounds and sports pitches".{{cite web| url=http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/news/article/11030/embassy_gardens_plans_approved | title=Embassy Gardens plans approved | publisher=Wandsworth Council | location=UK | accessdate=9 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322223710/https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/news/article/11030/embassy_gardens_plans_approved |archive-date=22 March 2012 }}

In 2014, it was reported that Ballymore had engaged Lazard and CBRE Group to raise about €2.5bn to fund the Embassy Gardens development.{{Cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/nick-webb-mulryan-is-close-to-wiping-slate-clean-30301129.html|title=Nick Webb: Mulryan is close to wiping slate clean - Independent.ie|work=Independent.ie|access-date=2017-06-28|language=en}}

In June 2017, 25 apartments were released for sale by EcoWorld Ballymore with prices for the homes that overlook a sky pool starting at £1million.{{Cite news|url=http://www.wharf.co.uk/news/property/embassy-gardens-homes-overlooking-25m-13128958|title=Homes with a 25m Sky Pool at Embassy Gardens are set to go on sale|last=Enfield|first=Laura|date=2017-06-02|work=thewharf|access-date=2017-06-28}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/property-and-architecture/property-developers-chasing-millionaire-millennials-new-offerings/|title=Yoga rooms, sky pools and film clubs... how property developers are chasing the millionaire millennials|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2017-06-28|language=en-GB}} The outdoor swimming pool is suspended 10 storeys high and acts as a bridge between two apartment blocks. It enables residents to swim between two buildings with views of the London Eye and Westminster Palace.{{Cite news|url=http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/luxury/property/a-world-first-new-battersea-homes-overlook-glassencased-outdoor-sky-pool-suspended-10-storeys-above-a110931.html#gallery|title=A world first: Battersea flats launch overlooking world's first glass-bottomed 'sky pool'|date=2017-05-30|work=Homes and Property|access-date=2017-06-28|language=en-GB}}

The lead architects were Sara Grohmann and Alex Whitbread, of Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.{{cite web| url=https://fcbstudios.com/projects/nine-elms-lane-battersea/ | title=Designing in neighbourliness in high-end, high density, apartment blocks | publisher=Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios | location=UK | accessdate=23 January 2025}}

In March 2021, Embassy Gardens residents were reported by the Financial Times as feeling "trapped" in their apartments, with one resident reporting that the service charge had increased 58% in five years to an annual charge of just over £6,500. This was an increase of between 10% and 15% per annum, well above the UK's inflation rate of 2.9% per annum during that period.{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/b135b814-dc9e-4abc-bb64-f378d11179d8|title='We are trapped': residents hit with soaring charges at luxury London homes|date=2021-03-13|work=FinancialTimes|access-date=2021-08-13}}