Penthouse Pāfekuto

Penthouse Pāfekuto is a pied-à-terre for a family, a resting place to facilitate their frequent visits to the city. Designed as a lively and a sensual world, it is a multi-level penthouse with 8,000 square feet of indoor area and 6,000 square feet of outdoor space spread across three levels.

YEAR

2018

LOCATION

VVIP Addresses, Ghaziabad

CATEGORY

Residential

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  • YEAR : 2018
  • LOCATION : VVIP Addresses, Ghaziabad
  • CATEGORY : Residential
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Penthouse Pāfekuto by Conarch Architects

What would one expect, when two apartments in a high rise with a great transformation potential, a collaborative client, and a dedicated team of craftspersons come together? An architectural equivalent of picture perfect, maybe?

Feature Staircase

The spatial form in the project has emerged from a host of variables and constraints, such as, the needs of a family with teenage children, structural limitations of the high rise building and limited flexibility in relocating plumbing and electrical services. We ripped down the walls, overhauled the space custom designing the penthouse in its entirety with the melody of balance, contrast, proportion and colour while grounding every move in logic and aesthetic precepts.

To create a spacious home, two separate apartments on top of one another were combined into this luxury penthouse and ownership rights were acquired to the high rise tower’s terrace above for private use.  One apartment is primarily designed as a master suite, private workspace, a guest bedroom and sit out area. The second apartment, internally connected with the first one, includes a spread out indoor & outdoor living area, a kitchen and three bedrooms.

The focal point of the space are the cantilevered floating wood steps with the artistic fall protection in a Prussian blue backdrop. Created in a simple style that belies its complexity, this protagonist of a staircase is meant to sit lightly to let light and conversations through, emphasizing the interconnected relationship between the levels.

Bedroom 5

To establish a sensorial connection and meet the human necessity to connect with natural systems, both the levels  extend into double height outdoor areas. The upper level leads to the tower’s roof level terrace, unfolding into a place for gathering, refuge and play. At a time when birds are becoming increasing scarce in the city, the roof terrace with its hydroponic ‘Living wall’, Plumeria & bonsai trees, Ficus panda,  flowering plants and water feature can be seen attracting migratory birds. The resulting benefits are two prong- a well-designed green roof is slowly becoming an ecosystem for bird-habitat regeneration and now, the kids in the family can emotionally and physically benefit from spending more time outdoors  interacting with all things natural.

Challenges

Plumbing, cannot be moved easily, if at all. This adds challenges to bathroom design. Drains for toilets, showers, and tubs are fixed in place. A drain going down through the floor cannot be moved, especially when the unit below is occupied. So one needs to plan for that and figure out workarounds.

This bathroom design is meant to rise above the limitations of a necessity and bring the user into a realm of rejuvenation. To enable the occupant to take pause and reflect, it is designed as a private sanctuary.

The bathroom is defined by a custom steel framed mirror partition, a vanity and a ceiling suspended faucet. The stepped jacuzzi faces a full-height exterior window. The glass partition defines the toilet and the shower, and provides a mist barrier from the adjoining dressing area. The generous space is reminiscent less of a bathroom and more of a finished living space.

Main terrace at Twilight time

At the terrace, the roof finish slopes as per the tower’s drainage plane. This cannot be changed. Any built work needs to accommodate these pre-existing slopes. We have used raised platforms to resolve this situation as it doesn’t require redirection of the water flow.

Fact file:
Location: VVIP Addresses, Rajnagar Extension, Ghaziabad, UP
Super Built-up area: 18,900 Sq. Ft
Principal Architect: S.K. Goel
Project Architect: Nitish Goel
Writer: Neha Goel
Project Team: Pushplata Dinkar, Tanya Kumar, Usha Narain, Suman Singh
Photography: Vibhor Yadav, Conarch Architects

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