City skylines are drastically changing, and so is the way of living in urban development. Architects are noticing a trend that is impacting how they design multifamily and residential towers: the value of market rate residential properties is significantly increasing by the quality of their amenities. As a result, rooftop amenities represent a great opportunity to add value to your projects.

In this post, we would like to bring afloat the many options architects have available to enhance rooftop amenities, and raise the value of multifamily and residential tower projects. All projects have different variables. Demographic factors such as target tenant market or location, will ultimately define what most valuable rooftop amenity features to add-on to your projects.

Hey! You might be interested in checking out these other posts from our series on rooftop amenities.

FOLLOW THE SHORTCUTS:

Part 1: Living & Sharing

Part 2: Sports & Health

Part 3: Water-based

Part 4: Rooftop Gardens

Part 5: Recreational

Part 6: Luxury & Leased

Part 7: Exotic & Pet

STANDARD FEATURES

First things considered, rooftop amenities offer a level of outdoor living that ground level amenities do not offer. In the case of residential towers, chances are that a 360º penthouse view is in order, and you can bet that this will raise the value of your project. Therefore, rooftop amenties start their conceptualization with standard features.

Some standard features are:

Wood Decks: An elegant and durable option. The beauty of wood decks on rooftops is that they convey a unique scenario feel that delivers a high-end status to your amenity without breaking budget. It is also a low maintenance material that can be easily transported, manipulated and treated.

Gardens & Planters: Bringing nature to the roof creates a peaceful ambience we are all familiar with. Green is a must. Options here include plants for shade and ambience, grass for sun bathing and laying, or even planters for hobby gardening. Each option is well accepted by tenants looking for a family ambience on a rooftop living space.

Concrete: Durable and low maintenance. Although not as elegant as wood, concrete is functional and should be considered as a mix and match option with other features in the amenity. A good rule of thumb is: where there is additional water (pools, gardens, splash-pads), concrete is a good companion.

Walkways: Connectivity between different spaces. Most rooftop amenities encompass different features that spread out throughout the total area of the roof, walkways define the pathway that connect these areas. Materials and space efficiency are key considerations in walkways.

Lounge Areas: Low cost investment and high value to tenants. When creating value based rooftop amenities, lounge areas offer a dynamic and low cost solution that at the same time deliver many uses for tenants that want to share with friends, work or simply read a book up on the roof.

Standard features represent the base outline of any amenity project. After the conceptualization – where the purpose and added value of the amenity is conceived – the next step is to determine the use of some standard features.

This step-by-step process sets the course for the next items on our list.