'Sanctuaries in the sky': 10 of the world's most stunning penthouses

The penthouse is an iconic signifier of wealth in our culture – but what are its essential design and architectural elements? From a luxe haven with dizzying ocean vistas to the highest private home on the US west coast, these sky-high masterworks of design are among the most breathtaking ever built.

The high-achieving characters in popular culture – from The Wolf of Wall Street to Succession – all have their status confirmed by occupying a particular type of real estate. It is that niche subcategory, the penthouse.

The audience knows instinctively that anyone living in such a dwelling must have reached the top of the tree. These people are not of our world, and literally look down on us.

And like its occupants, the term penthouse has also gone up in the world. Nowadays, it connotes a big apartment on the top floors of a high-rise. But in the 14th Century it started life as a much humbler structure, a mere lean-to shed attached to an existing wall – the word derives from the Old French apentis, meaning appendage.

The elitist glamour found in the penthouse of today is epitomised not just by needing to press the top button in the lift – or more likely, get into your own private lift – but by double-height ceilings, and huge rooms with unobstructed views through vast windows.

Away from film and TV depictions, these trophy assets are also people's homes. So, as well as screaming palatial, they also need to have a sense of intimacy.

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How can penthouses ever feel homely? One trick involves managing all that lateral space. Rather than breaking it all up into a succession of smaller rooms and ruining the drama of those long sightlines, well-designed penthouses instead have ingenious zoning.

"This zoning can be created using furniture, colour, texture, screens, room purpose and so on," says Peter Martin, author of new book Penthouse, which showcases some of the world's most stunning contemporary penthouses.

The ones that successfully mix spectacle with bijou moments achieve something paradoxical, Martin tells the BBC. "They are elevated symbols of status, yet also personal sanctuaries in the sky."

What design elements make a great penthouse? Here are 10 examples of lofty perfection.

1. 111 West 57th Street Penthouse, New York City 

This duplex is on the 76th floor of the iconic Steinway Tower, a structure made up of the restored 1925 Steinway Hall and a new 1,428ft (435m) skyscraper. Design firm Banda set about creating an interior that resonated with both the historic hall and the towering newcomer. A stand-out feature is the freestanding shiny silver bathtub that allows the bather to peer down on to Central Park through a wall of glass. "It suggests glamour, decadence and even exhibitionism, while remaining on the right side of good taste," Martin says.

2. Residence 113, Central Park Tower, New York City

This five-bedroom, 7,074-sq-ft (657-sq-m) home by Extell is in the tallest residential building in the Americas. In the main living space, the ceiling is so high that the grand piano looks dwarfed. In contrast, this bedroom suggests relative normality, Martin says, "except it is anything but normal, being surrounded on two sides by an........

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