Penthouse is a new lifestyle of the Russian elite.
The ideal is unattainable, but we must strive for it.
Whatever one may say, automation is an expensive business.
Automation in all its glory, I mean, and not an attempt to build a super with a skinny wallet and stinginess of the customer, or, even worse, to show off by passing off a standard set of energy-saving systems as the top of automation.
Expanding into the field of building automation in all its breadth and depth is possible only when dealing with a well-endowed client.
But people like that don’t 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 the green teacher one of the techniques of winning the attention of the audience, turned to 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 take a break from automation and talk about the sublime — about penthouses.
Although, as mentioned above, they are directly related to building automation. So, an article from a respectable publication about penthouses.
Today, everything elite and original is in fashion, the “VIP-class” and “haute couture” categories are literally everywhere, from clothes 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 culture and psychology.
Is it just a type of real estate or a new lifestyle?
Owners of penthouses – who are they, and why do they buy such housing?
Is 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, this is a luxurious apartment at the top of a skyscraper, but for others, it’s 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 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 with its own greenhouse, fireplace, swimming 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 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, as a rule, 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. There are high ceilings of 3.5 — 4 meters and an area of 300 square meters.
The area is usually central. In Moscow these are Arbat, Frunzenskaya Embankment, Ostozhenka. Prices here start from $3,000, and for “penthouses” — from $7,000.
But experts consider them to be overpriced, since the area is sometimes only 250 sq.m., the ceilings are below 3.5 meters, there is no space for a swimming pool or gym — only 40% of the building’s area is allocated.
But, the main thing is the height of the location is only from 140 to 170 meters.
In some penthouses, only high-rise buildings can be seen from the windows.
In Moscow, apartments on the upper floors of elite buildings are often called “penthouses”.
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 Kvartal company, on Vernadsky Avenue.
The houses of the “Kvartal” are “business class”, with a red brick exterior combined with glass panels.
At the top there are multi-level “penthouses” of 500 “square meters” each. One has a retractable roof, a swimming pool, and a marble terrace. In the foyer of another, the ceiling height exceeds 13 meters. From the terraces you can see the entire capital.
These are the highest apartments — from 340 to 370 meters. And in price ($1.7 thousand) 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: towards Tushino airport, Serebryany Bor, and the Moscow region.
Although this housing cannot be called “penthouses” in the literal sense, despite the area 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 1700 sq.m., with terraces of 700 m., a living room with 8-m. ceilings, an elevator and a helipad.
Compared to Moscow, there are few penthouses in St. Petersburg. There are generally few luxury houses here, most of which are located in the center.
Due to the restrictions of high-rise construction, only a few luxury projects build a penthouse.
Most often these apartments are classified as attics. The higher the houses are built, the lower the percentage of penthouses.
Because during the construction of high-rise buildings, the housing stock increases, and there can only be one apartment on the roof. Currently, two elite complexes with houses on the roof are being built in St. Petersburg — “Mont Blanc” and “Aurora”.
They are located in the Vyborg district, overlooking the city center.
There is a penthouse in the Nevsky Prospekt area, and dozens of “penthouses” in new areas. The luxury housing market, including penthouses, is developing faster than the standard market.
Disadvantages, advantages and design of penthouses.
A huge advantage is the absence of neighbors above and to the sides, no need to think about sound insulation, no one will complain about loud music.
There is also clean fresh air here, dust and dirt settle 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 an altitude. Waterproofing the terrace is also a very important point.
If there is a leak, the neighbors below will have to make repairs.
The layout of the penthouse is limited only by the imagination of the designer and owner. Panoramic windows are made here, high ceilings allow you to realize any ideas.
Classic penthouse — a house with a garden and 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 «Kvartal» the builders are creating something similar: for 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.
From the huge mast window there is a stunning panorama of the Troparevsky forest park, and around there is the endless sky and the lights of Leninsky Prospekt stretching into infinity.
Another example of originality is one of the most high-profile projects on the roof of an American skyscraper. The roof consists of several rectangular prisms: a concrete box in a glass case.
The composition includes a glass terrace and a water parterre, over the surface of which the volumes seem to hover. 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 — the tops of skyscrapers, like a concrete jungle.
The interior of the “penthouse” is made in the Art Deco style. The “penthouse” features old elevator booths from the 1930s.
The prism “stuck” in the facade seems to resist the laws of gravity. It’s like new-age housing, pulled out of the movie “The Fifth Element.”
The most expensive penthouses in Russia and the West.
The capital’s most expensive penthouse is located in the Vienna House residential complex on Plyushchikha.
This is the only complex with an artesian well and the fence of the imperial palace.
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.
There is a children’s mini-town on the internal territory, and water supply is provided from an artesian well.
The most expensive penthouse in the USA is the Pierre Hotel, worth $70 million. It has 7-meter ceilings and an excellent panorama of the city.
Who lives like the Gods?
Buying a penthouse means creating a certain lifestyle, luxurious, full of pleasure and relaxation.
This is more often possible for single people, not families.
Sometimes studios for intimate fashion shows and porn sessions are set up in such houses.
But more often penthouses are purchased by “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, such apartments are exotic.
The owners of penthouses are united by great financial opportunities and a level of worldview.
They look at the life of the city 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 the metropolis is similar to the life of the Gods of Olympus, because this is a cult place of all the huge cities of the world.