Penthouse Apartment - Design

Design

Penthouses also differentiate themselves by luxurious amenities such as high-end appliances, finest materials fitting, luxurious flooring system, and more.

Features not found in the majority of apartments in the building may include a private entrance or elevator, or higher/vaulted ceilings. In buildings consisting primarily of single level apartments, penthouse apartments may be distinguished by having two or more levels. They may also have such features as a terrace, fireplace, more square footage, over-sized windows, multiple owner suites, den/office space, jacuzzi, and more. They might be equipped with luxury kitchens featuring stainless steel appliances, granite counter-tops, breakfast bar/island, and more.

Penthouse residents often have fine views of the city skyline. Access to a penthouse apartment is usually provided by a separate elevator. Residents can also access a number of building services, such as pickup and delivery of everything from dry cleaning to dinner; reservations to restaurants and events made by building staffers; and other concierge services.

For example: the top floor penthouse of Robert A. M. Stern’s 15 Central Park West 20-story apartment building in New York has the following amenities:

• Set on a rooftop terrace, the penthouse has a view of the midtown skyline and at its feet is the whole geometry of Central Park.
• Penthouse ceiling was constructed to be thirteen and half feet high. Windows were made to be as high and wide as they could.
• Each section of the penthouse was furnished by unique materials. For the entrance gallery: marble floors and parchment panels framed in mahogany. For the library: Brazilian rosewood. For the dining room: Venetian stucco. For the master bedroom: reeded plasted. For the kitchen: Jaguar-green lacquer, bamboo, and textured glass. For the interiors of the fireplaces: long, narrow 19th-century bricks imported from France.
• This penthouse has a very sophisticated technology system. An anemometer was installed on the roof to measure wind speed so the terraces’ canvas awning can be retracted and does not get ripped off the penthouse’s exalted façade. Moisture sensors were used detect a leak, automatically sending an e-mail to the building managers. Temperature sensors, strapped to pipes, send an e-mail when the temperature deviates by as little as a single degree from the temperature set by the client.

The ancient Chinese art of Feng Shui plays a key in some penthouse designs, and is believed to improve the flow of interior and exterior spaces of buildings and landscapes.