Fastlane Series · Inner City
Fastlane 8m Custom Glass Wall Lap Pool, South Melbourne VIC
A penthouse rooftop pool built 300mm shorter than our standard mould to clear height restrictions — with a glass window cut into the pool wall so the family can watch the water from their living room.
Pool
Fastlane 8m
Colour
Quartz
Install
Glass wall
Cleaning
Self-cleaning
The Build
Inside the install
From the custom factory pour through to the finished pool with its signature glass window framing the water against the Melbourne skyline.
The Project
“A swimming pool is not just about swimming”
The client was developing a six-storey apartment block in South Melbourne and kept the penthouse for himself. The brief: a Fastlane lap pool on the rooftop, fitting inside strict boundary fencing and height regulations — with the water visible from inside the living space. The result is one of our most engineered builds.
The brief
Penthouse roof, freestanding pool, height-restricted to 300mm under our standard Fastlane.
The 6-storey apartment block had to comply with boundary fencing regulations and height restrictions. Our standard Fastlane was 300mm too tall. The pool also had to be freestanding — no sinking it into the subfloor because the lift system ran underneath. Solving both at once is what made this build distinct.
The custom factory pour
The pool mould was adjusted on all four sides in the factory so the entire shell came out 300mm shorter.
Not trimmed on-site — built from scratch with a modified mould. All four walls dropped by the same amount so the proportions stayed correct. This is the level of customisation only a manufacturer-direct relationship enables.
The glass window
A window cut into the pool wall so the family sees water from their living room — even at night with the lights on.
The window added 30% to the project. The reasoning was simple: a sunk pool from inside is just a box — you’re looking at the side of a wall. With a glass window, the pool becomes part of everyday living regardless of weather. Kitchen, living room, evening with the pool lights on, view across to the city. A swimming pool is not just about swimming.
Inner-city logistics
Trams, council permits, restricted crane windows, pool trucks waiting suburbs away.
Commercial construction builders are used to this. Most backyard pool builders aren’t. The lift was set up for a specific time window after base preparation, and our pool delivery truck had to wait in another suburb until the council-allowed slot opened. New territory for many of our operators — and exactly why pool builders without inner-city experience pass on jobs like this.
At a Glance
Project specifications
Pool & design
- Shape
- Fastlane custom length
- Dimensions
- 8m lap pool, custom 300mm shorter height
- Colour
- Bi-luminite Quartz
- Install type
- Freestanding, Maxi Rib above ground
- Location
- South Melbourne VIC (penthouse rooftop, 6-storey block)
Features & equipment
- Custom feature
- Glass window built into pool wall
- Cleaning
- Vantage in-floor self-cleaning
- Entry
- Custom-designed entry stairs
- Lighting
- Underwater LEDs for evening viewing from inside
- Use
- Lap pool + interior visual centrepiece
Why Compass For Highly Custom Builds
Four reasons this rooftop pool exists
Penthouse rooftop, height-restricted, glass window, inner-city logistics. The kind of project that separates manufacturer-direct builders from resellers.
Custom factory mould adjustments
Resellers can’t modify their shells — what comes off the truck is what you get. As a manufacturer-direct dealer we can adjust the mould before pour: shorter walls, custom dimensions, integrated features.
Glass window engineering
Cutting a viewing window into a pressurised fibreglass shell is structural surgery. The frame has to transfer load, the seal has to be watertight for decades, and the visual line has to look intentional. We design these in collaboration with our shell engineers.
Maxi Rib for freestanding installs
The pool couldn’t sit in the subfloor because of the lift system underneath. Maxi Rib structural ribbing lets the Fastlane stand fully above ground without the wall flex that kills lesser fibreglass shells.
Inner-city logistics
Tram networks, council permit windows, restricted crane times, multi-storey lifts. We’ve done the city-centre installs that need staging from suburbs away — not just suburban backyards.
Got an “impossible” site?
Rooftop, height restriction, freestanding, custom dimensions, glass window, inner-city logistics — if the brief sounds tricky, that’s exactly the kind of project we get most often. Free site inspection.
More Like This
Other Fastlane & lap-pool projects
From inner-city rooftops to Mornington Peninsula sloping sites — the Fastlane shape is built around the same lap-pool principle but the customisations are endless.
