Penthouse Install · Inner Melbourne · South Melbourne
Fastlane 12.3 Penthouse Pool with Water Wall, Quartz, South Melbourne
A 12.3m Fastlane lap pool installed freestanding on top of a South Melbourne penthouse, finished in Quartz Bi-luminite with a developer-designed water wall as the visual centrepiece. The client built the apartments and lived in the top one — this is their pool, on their roof.
Pool
Fastlane 12.3
Colour
Quartz
Install
Penthouse, above-ground
Feature
Water wall
The Build
Inside the install
Nine angles of a 12.3m Fastlane lap pool on top of a South Melbourne penthouse — from the developer-designed water wall to the freestanding Maxi Rib structure to the finished entertaining deck.
The Project
Penthouse living — with a 12.3m lap pool on the roof
The client was the developer building the apartments themselves and would be the owner-occupier of the top-floor penthouse. The brief: a 12.3m Fastlane lap pool freestanding on the penthouse, with a water wall as the visual centrepiece — the kind of design call you can only make when the developer, the architect and the homeowner are all the same person.
The brief
Bring the freestanding pool visually in line with the view from the living area.
The idea of a pool on the penthouse was important to the client — but the bigger design challenge was making the freestanding pool feel like a continuation of the living space rather than an object dropped on the roof. Sight-lines from the apartment had to align with the pool. The deck level, the tile colour, the water wall — everything was set up to work with the view, not compete with it.
The water wall
Designed with the developer. Bright tiles, modern look, plumbed through the pool’s own circulation.
The water wall sits alongside the pool as the architectural centrepiece of the deck. The developer designed it and chose bright tiles for a modern look; we ran the pipework to the wall during the pool build so the feature draws and returns through the pool’s own filtration. One mechanical system, two visible features — with no separate plant or extra pump to maintain later.
Freestanding Maxi Rib
A lightweight, structurally engineered shell that sits as a self-supporting structure on the rooftop.
A 12.3m concrete pool on a penthouse roof isn’t really an option. Compass’s Maxi Rib system — engineered structural ribs around the shell — makes freestanding above-ground installs possible by carrying load through the pool itself rather than relying on bulk concrete underneath. Lighter, faster, and structurally manageable on a building’s existing slab.
Self-cleaning at altitude
Vantage in-floor cleaning — because no-one wants to hand-brush a 12.3m pool on a penthouse roof.
Rooftop pools collect inner-city air: dust, traffic film, occasional grime drifting in from surrounding buildings. The Vantage in-floor cleaning system runs on a timer and sweeps the full length of the pool to the main drain. The pool stays clear without anyone needing to bring brushes, vacuums or chemicals out onto the rooftop — useful at any pool, more useful when the pool is several floors up.
At a Glance
Project specifications
Pool & design
- Shape
- Fastlane 12.3 × 2.8m
- Colour
- Bi-luminite Quartz
- Install type
- Above-ground freestanding — penthouse rooftop
- Feature
- Developer-designed water wall, bright tile finish
- Client
- Apartment developer & owner-occupier of the top penthouse
- Location
- South Melbourne VIC
Features & equipment
- Cleaning
- Vantage in-floor self-cleaning
- Shell technology
- Maxi Rib — engineered structural ribbing for freestanding installs
- Water feature
- Water wall plumbed through the pool’s own circulation system
- Use
- Year-round lap swimming + architectural centrepiece
Why Compass For Penthouse & Rooftop Builds
Four reasons rooftop pools work with Compass
Most pool builders won’t go near a rooftop install. We do them regularly — because Maxi Rib was engineered for exactly this kind of site.
Maxi Rib freestanding
Engineered structural ribs around the shell mean the pool stands as a self-supporting structure. Loads distribute manageably onto the building’s existing slab — the only way a 12.3m pool ends up on a roof at all.
Designed alongside the developer
Bringing the pool builder in at design stage — not as an afterthought — lets features like the water wall integrate cleanly. Pipework, plant location and finishes all get coordinated rather than retrofitted.
Vantage on a penthouse
Inner-city air carries grime and dust. The Vantage in-floor cleaning system sweeps the entire 12.3m length on a timed cycle — the pool stays clear with no maintenance hauled out onto the rooftop.
Lap-pool length, anywhere
12.3m is our longest standard Fastlane — serious lap-swim territory. The system makes that length deliverable on rooftops, narrow blocks, and sites a conventional pool would write off as impossible.
Developer, architect, or building owner with a constrained site?
Penthouse, rooftop, podium-level, indoor — constrained urban sites are where Compass shines. Bring us in at design stage so we can integrate properly.
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