Want a rush of adrenaline with your morning swim? Ballymore developers have unveiled an amazing transparent "sky pool" that'll make swimmers feel like they're floating through the air in London. Described as the "first of its kind in the world," the daring sky pool will be suspended 10-stories high between two apartment buildings in the Embassy Gardens development. The 25-meters-long swimming pool will be enclosed with 20 santimeter thick glass to give swimmers an unrivaled view of the streets of London 35 meters down below. Despite the sky pool's daredevil appearance, Ballymore says the pool has been granted planning permission and, like its renderings, will be entirely transparent and structure-free. The pool was designed by engineering firm Arup Associates with specialist advice from marine design engineers Eckersley O' Callaghan and aquarium designers Reynolds. The amazing structure will be developed as part of the HAL-designed 2,000-home Embassy Gardens in the new Nine Elms quarter that's currently under construction. The swimming pool will allow residents to swim between the two luxuries apartment buildings, which are both topped by sky decks with a bar, spa, orangery, and dramatic views of the Palace of Westminster. Residents who prefer not to swim can also get across via a footbridge. The proposed structure is 25 meters long, 5 meters wide, and nearly 3 meters deep, and was modeled after an aquarium. Sadly, not everyone will have the opportunity to swim through the air-units in the Embassy Gardens cost upwards of USD$ 944 thousand. The Embassy Gardens development is slated for completion in 2017.

British football club Tottenham Hotspur has released plans for a new stadium designed by Populous. Planned to be built in the London borough of Haringey, the "visually dramatic" 61,000-seat proposal is designed to host both English and American football. If approved, it will feature a state-of-the-art retractable pitch and a 17,000 capacity single tier end stand that will be the UK's largest. The state-of-the-art stadium, due to open in the summer of 2018, will feature a retractable grass field with an artificial surface underneath that would be used for NFL games. This field will be multi-use and capable of hosting other sporting, entertainment and community events. Both sports will have dedicated facilities ensuring that the new stadium, designed with a focus on atmosphere, will deliver the optimum experience for both teams and fans. It will be one of the most environmentally sustainable in the UK and also include a clear focus on accessibility via public transportation. Beyond the field, the new stadium will feature a permanent visitor's center and arrivals hub with an interactive museum to celebrate club history and local heritage, a cinema, the club megastore, ticket office and cafe. At the top of the stadium will be a 40 meters high "Sky Walk" showcasing vistas of London. The stadium is part of the Northumberland Development Project, which will include a new community health center, 180-room hotel and four new residential buildings with 579 apartments designed by Allies and Morrison. New four residential buildings from 16 to 32 stories will offer a mix of 1, 2 and 3-bedroom apartments, including affordable housing. The new development will provide 275 parking spaces for cars and 900 spaces for bicycles. There also will be a 25 thousand square meters of employment space.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II may be forced to move out of Buckingham Palace to allow millions of dollars of renovations to be carried out. The 775-room building - which has not been renovated since she became monarch in 1952 - needs around US$ 237 million of reconstruction work. The repair cost has soared from the previous estimate made by royal officials two years ago, when nearly US$ 78 million was predicted to cover the cost of repairing all the royal palaces. The Queen may also have to find somewhere else. The palace, which has not been redecorated for more than 60 years, has fallen into such a state of disrepair that the wiring and plumbing will have to be entirely replaced and the works could take ten years. Most of the state rooms have not been decorated since the Queen came to the throne, while large parts of the building are in such a state of disrepair that Princess Anne was almost hit by falling masonry a few years ago. And the palace's ancient electrics and plumbing systems both need a top-to-toe overhaul. As well as having to hold garden parties in a different location, any major closure of the palace could force its closure to the public for at least one summer season, meaning a huge loss of income for the Royal Collection, which looks after its priceless artefacts on behalf of the nation. Officials are now seriously exploring the possibility that the Queen and her staff will be forced to move out, either all at once, or in stages with the work being done around them. If Queen leaves, it will be the first time a monarch has been forced out since Queen Victoria designated it as an official residence in 1837. At first the palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 on a site which had been in private ownership. Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837 and today is the administrative headquarters of the Monarch.

One of Britain's top entrepreneurs has unveiled a new plan to build London's most expensive block of flats in Mayfair. "Audley Square House" is being billed as Britain's first US$ 3 billion apartment block. The previous records belonged to private projects One Hide Park and 199 Knightsbridge, which construction costs were US$ 2.2 billion. According to British publication Daily Mail John Caudwell, the founder of Phones4U, bought the five-story Audley Street garage in Mayfair, central London for US$ 230 million in order to knock it down and build a high-end housing complex. At first the site has consent for a nearly US$ 450 million scheme by Foster & Partners but John Caudwell has since added an extra building to the plot. After ditching the Foster's scheme he interviewed 30 "leading architects from around the world" before appointing New York-based Stern for its "ability to design high-quality buildings that do not stand apart from their surroundings but rather fit in comfortably amongst their neighbors". The 18,500 square meters scheme, known as "Audley Square House", will be 9 stories above ground, capped by large penthouses and duplexes, plus 5 underground - including 2 levels of car parking, plant and a leisure center. Each townhouse and penthouse will have its own gym and swimming pool, while the penthouses will have dedicated lifts to ensure their owners' privacy. The development's communal facilities will include a 15-meter swimming pool, a business center for holding meetings, a gym, spa and cinema and games room. At the first of April plans for the ambitious complex were submitted to Westminster Council. But as mentioned Becky Fatemi, director of Rokstone estate agents during her interview to Daily Mail, powerful locals might not be happy with the years of building works which would be likely to ensue in the area. The neighbors are powerful and include the Embassy of Qatar, the Dorchester Hotel and very wealthy apartment owners who will expect the site construction to be managed to the highest levels to ensure no noise or construction impact and they will expect constantly clean roads.

According to Britain publication The Telegraph, the company Transport for London (TfL) plans to transform London's 50 tube stops, bus stations and adjacent buildings into tourist attractions, luxury penthouse apartments, homes, offices and shops. The revenue raised (US$ 5.1 billion) from the highly anticipated project, which will transform underground stations into profit generating businesses, will help to upgrade the capital's creaking transport infrastructure and cater for London's rapidly expanding population. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, claimed the 10-year redevelopment project which will unlock revenues from Transport for London assets, will also help reduce the increase in travel fares for commuters and tourists. "London's population is set to grow from 8.4 million today to 10 million by 2030," said Graeme Craig, TfL's director of commercial development. "London needs more homes and office spaces and the transport network needs sustained, long-term investment." On February 2 the organization launched a one-year tender process to appoint a small number of property development partners to work on the overall collection of sites which cover 92 thousand square meter of land.