Five Seas Cannes: a stainless steel mirror pool on the rooftop

The Five Seas Hotel is one of Steel and Style's hotel references on the French Riviera. The project brings together two pools with very different uses: a communal pool on the top floor, open to hotel guests, and a private spa integrated into a suite.

The two projects share the same design logic: a custom-made 316L stainless steel tank, designed for the space that houses it, and an overflow design that makes the waterline an architectural element.

The context: a luxury hotel in the heart of Cannes

Located in the heart of Cannes, a few steps from the Croisette, the Five Seas Hotel is a high-end establishment whose guests expect services worthy of its address. In a dense city center, floor space is rare: the rooftop becomes the natural place to offer a pool and a view.

The hotel wanted two distinct experiences. On the rooftop, a shared relaxation area, usable all year round. In a suite, a private wellness facility, which contributes to the room's identity as much as the furniture or the view.

The constraints: a rooftop and a suite on an upper floor

Installing water on an upper floor in an existing building raises questions that do not arise on the ground. Without going into the specifics of this particular project, these constraints are common to all projects of this type:

• The load: the weight of the water and the structure must be compatible with the building's structure, which requires verification by an engineering firm.
• Waterproofing: a leak in a roof or in a suite has immediate consequences on the floors below.
• Access: the elements must be able to be delivered to the rooftop or to the suite, in the city center and often in an active hotel.
• Integration: the structure must fit into an already designed architecture, without giving the impression of having been added later.

The Rooftop pools: the stainless steel solution dossier details these points and how a self-supporting stainless steel tank meets them.

The 16-meter mirror infinity pool

On the hotel's top floor, the infinity pool measures 16 meters long. Its stainless steel finish and mirror overflow create a perfectly flat water surface, which visually extends the terrace towards the roofs of Cannes. It is heated year-round to 28 °C, allowing the hotel to offer it all year round.

The principle of the mirror overflow

In a mirror pool, the water is flush with the deck level and overflows around the perimeter of the pool into a return gutter. It then joins a buffer tank, from where it is filtered and then returned to the pool. The water surface thus remains at the same level as the floor, without a visible coping: it is this effect that gives the impression of a mirror placed on the terrace.

This type of pool requires great manufacturing precision. The flatness of the overflow edges determines the regularity of the water film: a leveling defect is immediately visible. The work in the workshop, on stainless steel sheets cut and welded with precision, is what makes this result possible. Our MIRORINOX peripheral overflow model uses this principle for residential and hotel projects.

The TWO MO spa: overflow and glass walls

In one of the hotel's suites, Steel and Style installed the TWO MO spa. It is an infinity spa equipped with two glass walls: the water is visible through the tank, and the spa appears as a transparent volume in the room rather than as a technical piece of equipment.

Combining stainless steel and glass requires carefully treating the junctions between the two materials. The stainless steel structure supports the glass walls and ensures waterproofing; the overflow, as with the pool, keeps the water level flush with the edges. This type of project is detailed in our Transparent pools: glass pools and spas dossier, and our models are presented in the Glass spas collection.

In a suite, the spa is intended for two people at most and must remain discreet: quiet operation, easy access to the equipment for hotel maintenance, and finishes consistent with the room's decor.

Why 316L stainless steel for a city center hotel

For a hotel, the choice of material is based on its operating life as much as on aesthetics. 316L stainless steel provides several answers to the constraints described above:

• A self-supporting tank: the stainless steel structure supports the water itself, which makes it easier to integrate onto an existing slab after a structural study.
• Built-in waterproofing: the sheets are assembled by continuous welding, without an added membrane or tile joint.
• Workshop manufacturing: most of the work is done off-site, which reduces the duration of intervention in an active establishment.
• A smooth and durable surface: no liner to replace or joints to redo, an important point for a pool used all year round.

The metallurgy of stainless steels for pool applications dossier explains why the 316L grade is chosen for projects in permanent contact with treated water.

Close collaboration with the hotel

The design, manufacture and installation of the two pools were carried out in close collaboration with the Five Seas Hotel teams. Each stage was planned to integrate the pools into the existing architecture, while meeting the quality and safety requirements of a public-access establishment.

On this type of project, coordination focuses in particular on:

1. validating the structure and technical connections with the project manager;
2. the dimensions and design of the pools, adjusted to the available space;
3. workshop fabrication and pre-departure inspection of the pool shells;
4. delivery, installation and connection, organised to minimise disruption to the hotel;
5. filling, commissioning and handover to the maintenance teams.

The result: two water features for a single establishment

The Five Seas Hotel now has two complementary water features: a shared mirror pool, open to the rooftops of Cannes and usable all year round, and a private spa that makes the suite a true place of relaxation.

The project illustrates what stainless steel enables in urban environments: installing a pool on a rooftop or inside a building, with precise design and controlled workshop fabrication. To estimate a comparable project, our stainless steel pool pricing guide details the budget items, and the stainless steel pool collection showcases our models.