Lifestyle
The ideal is unattainable, but we must strive for it.
No matter how you look at it, automation is an expensive business. Automation in all its glory, I mean, and not an attempt to cobble together a super with a lean wallet and a stingy customer, or, even worse, to throw dust in the eyes, passing off a standard set of energy-saving systems as the pinnacle of automation.
You can expand in the field of building automation in all its breadth and depth only by dealing with a well-off client. And such people do not live in five-story buildings.
You need to look for them in penthouses.
Following the lesson of one old teacher from one old joke, who, demonstrating to a green teacher one of the techniques for winning the attention of the audience, addressed his restless listeners «Today, children, we will put a condom on a globe, but first I will tell you what a globe is», now I would like to distract myself from automation, and talk about the sublime — about penthouses.
Although, as was said above, they are directly related to the automation of buildings. So, an article from one respectable publication about penthouses.
«Penthouse» — a new lifestyle of the Russian «elite»
Today, everything elite and original is in fashion, the categories «VIP class» and «haute couture» are literally everywhere, from clothing to real estate.
Following the example of the West, housing with the unusual name «penthouse» is becoming popular in Russia.
If you imagine a «penthouse», you imagine a huge apartment, or even a house, with a beautiful garden and a stunning panorama from the window.
The topic of penthouses is interesting not only from the point of view of architecture, but also from the point of view of culture and psychology. Is it just a type of real estate or a new lifestyle?
Who are the owners of «penthouses» and why do they buy such housing? Is a «penthouse» another investment in demonstrating social status or are there other goals? Let's try to find out
So what is a «penthouse»?
There are many definitions, and each is correct in its own way. For some, it is a luxurious apartment on top of a skyscraper, while for others, it is not an apartment at all, but a whole house.
According to the American definition, where «penthouses» come from, this is the name of a luxurious house on the roof of a high-rise building, this is a single-family and the most expensive housing.
«Penthouses» appeared in America, along with skyscrapers.
Today in Europe — this is high-class housing, located in the middle of a metropolis.
Housing, where there is a greenhouse, fireplace, pool, garden and even a helicopter pad.
This is a hybrid of a country house and a city apartment.
They differ from ordinary apartments in their luxurious appearance, since the «penthouses» are located on the upper floors of skyscrapers. This is an indicator of wealth and fame, status and success of the owner. Many stars and celebrities live in «penthouses».
«Penthouse» in Russian.
«Penthouses» in Moscow and St. Petersburg are usually the creation of Russian architects, but there are no traditional techniques, everything is borrowed from the West. Such housing appeared recently, about 6 years ago. «Penthouses» are located on the upper floors of high-rise buildings, surrounded by terraces. Here, the ceilings are high at 3.5-4 meters and the area is from 300 «squares».
The area is usually central. In Moscow, this is Arbat, Frunzenskaya Embankment, Ostozhenka.
Prices here start from $3,000, and for «penthouses» — from $7,000.
But experts consider them too high, since the area is sometimes only 250 sq. m., ceilings are lower than 3.5 meters, there is no room for a swimming pool, a gym — only 40% of the building area is allocated. But, most importantly — the height of the location is only 140 to 170 meters. In some penthouses, you can only see high-rise buildings from the windows.
In Moscow, «penthouses» are often called apartments on the upper floors of elite houses. But a real penthouse is a sky-high cottage on the roof of a skyscraper, with a wonderful panorama.
Or it is located on the roof of a high-rise mansion, like a large attic.
The best «penthouses» were built by the company «Kvartal», on Vernadsky Avenue. The houses of «Kvartal» are «business class», red brick exterior combined with glass panels.
At the top are multi-level «penthouses» of 500 square meters each. One has a retractable roof, a swimming pool, and a marble terrace. The ceiling in the foyer of another is over 13 meters high. You can see the entire capital from the terraces. These are the highest apartments — from 340 to 370 meters. And in price ($ 1,7000) they are inferior to the center. Therefore, the «penthouses» of the «Quarter» are one of the best offers on the real estate market.
The only penthouses built in American style are in Shchukino, in the «Scarlet Sails» complex. The panorama here is amazing: Tushinsky Airport, Serebryany Bor, Moscow Region.
Although these housing units cannot be called «penthouses» in the literal sense, despite their area ranging from 400 to 790 «squares». They do not occupy the entire territory of the upper floors. The exception is «Caesar», a three-level «penthouse» of 1,700 square meters, with terraces of 700 square meters, a living room with ceilings of 8 meters, an elevator and a helipad.
Compared to Moscow, there are few «penthouses» in St. Petersburg. There are few elite houses here in general, most of which are located in the center. Due to restrictions on high-rise construction, only a few «elite» projects build a penthouse.
More often, these apartments are attic apartments.
The higher the buildings are built, the lower the percentage of «penthouses». Since the housing stock increases during the construction of «high-rises», and there can only be one apartment on the roof. Now in St. Petersburg, 2 elite complexes with houses on the roof are being built — «Mont Blanc» and «Aurora». They are located in the Vyborgsky district, overlooking the city center.
There is a «penthouse» in the Nevsky Prospekt area, and dozens of «penthouses» in new areas. The elite housing market, including «penthouses», is developing faster than the typical one.
Disadvantages, advantages and design of «penthouses».
A huge advantage is the absence of neighbors above and to the side, no need to think about soundproofing, no one will make a complaint about loud music. Also, there is clean fresh air, dust and dirt settles much lower.
With good equipment, neither rain nor wind is scary, as if it were a country house. The disadvantages are that many find it difficult to live at such a height. Also, waterproofing the terrace becomes a very important point.
If there is a leak, the neighbors below will have to do repairs.
The layout of the «penthouse» is limited only by the imagination of the designer and the owner. Here they make panoramic windows, high ceilings allow you to implement any ideas. The classic «penthouse» is a house with a garden, a swimming pool. But some build it in the style of a fairy-tale city, and even a pirate ship.
In one of the houses of the «Quarter», builders are creating something similar: on 500 sq. m they are building a pirate ship. The height of 12 m allows you to recreate a ship in 4 tiers, with bridges, rope ladders, cables on which lighting is mounted.
The huge mast-shaped window offers a stunning panorama of the Troparevsky forest park, and around — the endless sky and the lights of Leninsky Prospekt running off into infinity.
Another example of originality — one of the most high-profile projects on the roof of an American skyscraper. The roof is several rectangular prisms: a concrete box in a glass case.
The composition includes a glass terrace, a water parterre, over the surface of which the volumes seem to hang. This is a technique of meditative spatial contemplation.
The main thing is the view of the city. New York appears from here in the best perspective — with the tops of skyscrapers, like a concrete jungle. The interior of the «penthouse» is made in the «art deco» style. The «penthouse» plays with old elevator booths from the 30s. «Stuck» in the facade, the prism seems to resist the laws of gravity. It is like housing of the new era, pulled out of the movie «The Fifth Element».
The most expensive «penthouses» in Russia and the West.
The most expensive capital «penthouse» is located in the residential complex «Vienna House», on Plyushchikha.
This is the only complex with an artesian well and the fence of the imperial palace.
The «penthouse» of 500 sq. m has three levels, a winter garden, a swimming pool and a gorgeous view from the windows.
The complex has a Viennese cafe, a beauty salon, a fitness center with a swimming pool and much more. On the inner territory there is a children's mini-town, and water supply is carried out from an artesian well.
The most expensive in the USA is the «penthouse» of the «Pierre Hotel», worth 70 million dollars.
It has 7-meter ceilings and an excellent panoramic view of the city.
Who lives like the Gods?
To buy a «penthouse» means to create a certain lifestyle, luxurious, full of pleasure and relaxation. This is more often affordable for single people, not families. Sometimes in such houses they arrange studios for intimate fashion shows and porn sessions.
But more often «penthouses» are purchased by the «golden youth» — highly paid young professionals, by the age of 25 they are already millionaires.
Although there is no clear portrait of the owner yet, and such apartments are exotic.
The owners of «penthouses» are united by great financial opportunities and a level of worldview.
They look at city life from the heights of aesthetics, with the superiority of a mind enriched by civilization, which is not given to everyone.
Life in the «penthouses» of a metropolis is like the life of the Gods of Olympus, because this is a cult place of all the huge cities of the world.