Blue Abyss is constructing the largest and deepest swimming pool in the world in Cornwall, designed for underwater robot testing and astronaut training.
Design of the Blue Abyss swimming pool. (Photo: New Atlas).
The Blue Abyss swimming pool has a capacity of 42,000m3 of water, equivalent to 168 million cups of tea. The $212 million pool is set to be built at the Aerohub business park at Cornwall Airport, Newquay, located near the Cornwall Spaceport and the Goonhilly Earth Station. The pool will be approximately 50 meters long, 40 meters wide, and 50 meters deep, with a volume comparable to 17 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Swimming pools are excellent venues for testing various underwater technologies, as well as training divers or astronauts in a simulated zero-gravity environment. For over a century, engineers, scientists, and training experts have utilized pools to test new technologies, explore submarine designs, and identify complex technical issues. As 21st-century projects become increasingly complex, the design of pools must also evolve to meet these demands.
The Blue Abyss project is being developed by former diving training expert and management consultant John Vickers, along with British astronaut Tim Peake on the advisory board. The lead designer is architect Robin Partington, who previously directed the Gherkin skyscraper project in London. The Blue Abyss complex will include the swimming pool, an astronaut training center, a demonstration center, a decompression chamber, a hyperbaric chamber, a microgravity room, six classrooms, a shop, a cafeteria, and residential accommodations.
The pool is large enough to accommodate replicas of modules from the International Space Station (ISS), which can be used to test underwater robots and offshore wind turbines. The pool area can also function as an underwater cave for testing remotely operated vehicles and training divers. Supporting equipment includes a sliding roof, a 30-ton crane, temperature control facilities, lighting, and salinity management for the pool, as well as simulations of ocean currents at various depths.
Once the necessary permits are obtained, construction is expected to take about 18 months, with the pool projected to open in 2023. According to Vickers, Blue Abyss will become a major research facility in the fields of aerospace, offshore energy, underwater robotics, physiology, defense, entertainment, marine industry, and an educational center for children and students.
