Rooftops are higher-stakes outdoor rooms.
Designing over structure means every decision carries more technical weight: waterproofing, loads, drainage, wind, shade, fire features, safety, operations, and maintenance all need to be coordinated early.
Rooftop Amenity Design
Rooftop amenity design is the planning and design of outdoor spaces on rooftops, podium decks, and elevated amenity levels for multifamily, mixed-use, hospitality, and urban residential projects. Loft Six Four designs rooftop pools, lounges, outdoor kitchens, fire features, shade structures, planting systems, circulation, and view-driven gathering spaces that help buildings lease, sell, photograph, and get remembered.
$160M+4th West sale within two years
95%Skyhouse occupancy reached
$425KEstimated annual rooftop-driven revenue
$4M+Estimated Park Avenue value increase
The outdoor amenity is the room that leases the building.
A rooftop can become the leasing tour closer, the project’s strongest photography moment, the resident gathering place, and the feature people use to justify choosing one building over another.
The best rooftop starts before the budget is frozen.
When Loft Six Four is brought in early, the rooftop can be shaped around the building, views, structure, resident profile, and brand promise instead of being value-engineered into leftover space.
Most of the rooftops are in Salt Lake City.
4th West, Skyhouse, Park Avenue, The Randi, Hidden Gem, and Sugar Alley are Salt Lake City rooftops, from downtown to Sugar House. The studio is in Sandy. Outside Utah, the Residence Inn rooftop is in downtown Boise, and Loft Six Four works across the US.
Project proof
Specific work beats generic claims.
Rooftop Benchmark4th WestRooftop ROISkyhouseUrban RooftopPark AvenueDowntown Salt Lake CityThe RandiGateway RooftopHidden GemSugar HouseSugar AlleyPodium Decks + PoolsPost HousePodium Pool TerraceThe GrandeurSpa-Cascade CourtyardSlateHospitality RooftopResidence InnService TourRooftops and Outdoor ExperiencesRelated HubPodium DecksCity PageSalt Lake CityCity PagePark CityCity PageSt. George
Rooftop field guides
Amenity ROIHow to Predict Your Rooftop Amenity ROI Before You Break GroundFeasibilitySix Steps to a Valuable Rooftop Amenity Feasibility StudyTechnical CoordinationImportant Design Considerations for Your Rooftop Amenity ProjectRooftop RiskRED FLAGS TO WATCH FOR IN ROOFTOP AMENITY DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
FAQ
Answers for buyers and search engines.
What is rooftop amenity design?
Rooftop amenity design is the planning and design of outdoor spaces on rooftops and elevated amenity decks, including pools, spas, lounges, outdoor kitchens, fire features, shade, planting, circulation, views, and resident gathering spaces.
Why should developers hire a rooftop amenity design specialist?
Rooftop amenities involve higher technical and experiential stakes than standard landscape areas because they require coordination with architecture, structure, waterproofing, drainage, wind, code, operations, and leasing strategy.
Do rooftop amenities increase property value?
Well-designed rooftop amenities can support leasing, rent premiums, resident retention, event revenue, brand differentiation, and property value when they are planned early and aligned with the project’s market position.
RelatedPark Avenue Skyhouse
Where has Loft Six Four designed rooftop amenities in Utah?
Most of Loft Six Four’s published rooftops are in Salt Lake City. 4th West, Skyhouse, and The Randi are downtown, Hidden Gem is at The Gateway, and Park Avenue and Sugar Alley are in Sugar House. Park City and St. George work on the site is residential and campus work rather than rooftops. The studio is in Sandy, Utah.
RelatedSalt Lake City landscape architect Park City St. George
How is a rooftop different from a podium amenity deck?
A rooftop is the top of the building, and a podium amenity deck sits on structure over a lower level. Skyhouse in downtown Salt Lake City has both: a 13,000 sq ft rooftop above 12,000 sq ft of podium courtyards. Post House and The Grandeur are podium projects, covered on the Podium and Amenity Deck Design page.
RelatedPodium and amenity decks
Who designs rooftop amenity decks in Salt Lake City?
Most rooftops that disappoint were handed to a designer after the structure and the budget were already set. Loft Six Four is a landscape architecture studio in Sandy, Utah, brought in while the roof can still shape the building. It designs the pools, lounges, fire features, shade, planting, and circulation, and coordinates them with the architect, structural engineer, and waterproofing from the first sketch. Its built Salt Lake City rooftops are 4th West, Skyhouse, Park Avenue, The Randi, Hidden Gem, and Sugar Alley, each with a case study.
How do I choose a rooftop amenity designer in Utah?
Ask to see built rooftops, then ask what they did for the building after opening. A rooftop is designed over someone else’s structure, waterproofing, and drainage, so look for a team that coordinates those early and stays through construction. Loft Six Four leaves the rankings to others and publishes results instead: the 4th West development sold for more than $160 million within two years of completion, Skyhouse reached 95% occupancy, and developer metrics estimate a $4M+ increase in Park Avenue’s property value tied to the amenity design.
I’m an out-of-state developer building apartments in Salt Lake City. Who should design the rooftop amenities?
Distance shows up at the worst moment, during construction, when a detail on the roof needs an answer that day. Pick a team that knows Utah’s seasons and can be on site. Loft Six Four’s studio is in Sandy, and most of its published rooftops are in Salt Lake City. It designed the Post House podium pools to work in January as well as July, and The Randi’s rooftop runs on water-wise landscaping. It also works outside Utah, including the Residence Inn rooftop in downtown Boise.
Who designs rooftop decks for luxury condo buildings in Utah?
Condo owners judge a shared roof the way they judge their own home, so it needs the finish of a private residence and the durability of an amenity deck. Loft Six Four has not published a condo tower rooftop. Its closest built match is The Grandeur in Holladay, a building with 192 apartments and 16 penthouse condos whose amenity is a podium pool terrace and infinity spa, open year-round. The studio also designs luxury homes, including Modern Elm in Orem, so both standards come from one team.
RelatedThe Grandeur Luxury residential
Who designs hotel rooftop bars in Salt Lake City?
A hotel rooftop bar has to be planned into the building, or it ends up as a patio nobody finds. Loft Six Four has not published a Salt Lake City hotel rooftop. Its hotel rooftop is the 5,700 sq ft Residence Inn by Marriott deck in downtown Boise, completed in 2017, where the bar, lounge, dining terrace, and pool each get their own pocket. It was planned into the building from the start, not set on top as an afterthought. In Salt Lake City, the closest work is Hidden Gem, a private rooftop office patio linking three towers at The Gateway.
Which Salt Lake City rooftop amenities did Loft Six Four design?
4th West, on the West Side, has a 26,000 sq ft lifestyle deck and an Olympic-sized pool, and won a 2019 ASLA Utah Merit Award. Skyhouse, downtown, has a 13,000 sq ft rooftop with 360-degree views. Park Avenue, in Sugar House, is a 10,000 sq ft rooftop pool terrace on a paving grid that locks into the structure below. The Randi’s rooftop deck, over 4,000 sq ft, won a 2018 Urban Design Utah Merit Award. Hidden Gem, completed in 2022, is a roughly 5,000 sq ft private office patio at The Gateway. Sugar Alley, with rooftop and courtyard amenities, was rebuilt after a 2022 construction fire.
RelatedPark Avenue Hidden Gem Sugar Alley
Why do so many rooftop amenities feel like leftover space?
Because they are designed last. The structure, the mechanical equipment, and the budget get locked first, the roof gets whatever is left, and value engineering cuts the rest. Loft Six Four treats the outdoor amenity as the room that leases the building, so it gets planned while the building is. Its Deep Dive pins a realistic cost range before anything gets designed, which keeps the rooftop on the drawings from being the first thing cut at bid time.
RelatedResidence Inn The method
Ready when the outdoor environment needs to matter.
Start a project
Plan the amenity before the budget does.
If your rooftop or courtyard has to win over renters, bring us in while the plans can still move. Tell us where the project stands and we’ll tell you what we’d do next.