Why are luxury car brands suddenly building skyscrapers?

 

Laurence Grigorov, as director of a residential property development company, finds ideas and inspiration from international architectural designs for residential development projects that the company is involved in. Laurence Grigorov has been developing luxury residential projects in Johannesburg, South Africa for over 20 years.

The past 18 months has seen a flurry of skyscrapers unveiled by luxury car makers including Bentley, Mercedes-Benz and Aston Martin. Nat Barker reports on the growing phenomenon of car-branded architecture.

"Fans of the brand should not just be able to drive a Porsche, they should be able to live in one," said Porsche Lifestyle Group CEO Stefan Buescher of the brand's decision to move into real estate.

While real estate itself is clearly lucrative, the car companies have other motivations for building the residences.

Pull up outside Aston Martin Residences – a 66-storey skyscraper in Miami completed this month – and you will be greeted by the marque's famous winged logo.

"Entering the real estate sector is a showcase of design mastery, tapping into a profound understanding of our customer lifestyle and personal preferences," Bentley Motors director of product and marketing Steven De Ploey told Dezeen, echoing the sentiments of its peers.

The key word here is "lifestyle". Luxury automotive brands make no secret of the fact that they increasingly want to be much more to their customers than mere vehicle manufacturers.

"It's about creating a 360-degree brand experience," added Porsche's Buescher.

Porsche kicked off the trend with Porsche Design Tower Miami, completed in 2017. Photo courtesy of Porsche

Porsche can make a strong claim to have started the trend, unveiling plans for the 198-metre-tall Porsche Design Tower – complete with car elevators – in 2013 and completing the Miami project in 2017. A second project has just completed in Stuttgart.

Part of its motivation was a realisation that demand for "luxury" design is becoming more about status than a desire for top-quality products.

"Modern luxury is defined less by the product itself, the brand name or the price, but by the overall product and brand experience," Buescher said.

"The Porsche Design Tower Miami is therefore not only a symbol of architectural excellence, but also a testimony to our commitment to offering our customers ultra-exclusive experiences."

Luxury brands of all kinds are diversifying, but this idea of being the defining aspect of the consumer's life carries particular weight among car makers, according to industry expert Andrew Graves.

"Customer retention is really important to this industry," he told Dezeen.

"They try to make a 'Bentley-ness' about the lifestyle so you don't decide to buy a Bugatti instead. And if you have your apartment in Miami, you'll stay with them for life."

Luxury car brands have been using design to sell a lifestyle to their customers for some time. Lifestyle brand Porsche Design, for example, was founded more than 50 years ago.

Fashion and accessories have been a particular focus, though interiors are another trend, with Bentley and Bugatti both exhibiting new furniture collections at Milan design week last month.

Moving into architecture, then, may be a natural progression. And there are other reasons that residential real estate makes sense for luxury car brands.

For one thing, sports cars have a way of provoking astonishing enthusiasm among owners.

"You have incredibly fanatical owners," said Aston Martin chief creative officer Marek Reichman. "Many Aston Martin owners are collectors – some have more than 10 cars."

For these kinds of customers, Aston Martin launched an architecture service for homes designed to show off their cars in 2019 – and is currently close to completing its first project in upstate New York, with another two in the works in Tokyo.

Aston Martin offers an architecture service to design homes around owners' prized automobiles. Image by S3 Architecture, courtesy of Corcoran Country Living

Real-estate investing is often a passion among those wealthy enough to have a luxury car collection numbering in the double digits, as Bentley's De Ploey acknowledges.

"It's an exciting area of the luxury market and the number-one passion for both our existing as well as our future prospects," he said.

Such fierce brand loyalty is a valuable asset in the property marke and the majority of developers can only dream of having such a high profile.

For instance, Reichman explained, an Aston Martin buyer will commonly put down a hefty deposit around five years before receiving their car.

"If you're a car buyer of exclusive, limited edition cars, then actually you're quite used to the process of buying off-plan," he explained.

Miami has emerged as the epicentre of branded residences. Photo by Aston Martin

That is music to a property developer's ears – and according to Reichman, Aston Martin Residences was in the extremely rare position of being almost entirely sold out before it opened.

Meanwhile, it was reported that 22 billionaires had purchased apartments in Porsche Design Tower by the time the project was made public in 2013.

So there appears to be demand among the super-rich for car-branded skyscrapers – though Graves believes there is an even simpler reason for the rapid uptake of the trend.

"There is this thing that happens in the car industry called the herd effect," he said. "When one does something the rest panic and think 'we don't want to be left out'."

In keeping with Graves' copycat theory, Miami has emerged as the undisputed world capital of car-branded skyscrapers – with Porsche, Aston Martin, Bentley, Mercedes and Pagani all choosing the city for their projects.

"Miami is most certainly, I'd say, the birthplace of branded residences," agreed Mikael Hamaoui, founder and CEO of Riviera Horizons – the Floridian developer building Pagani Residences.

"When you think about places to live, Miami of all cities is a lifestyle – you move to Miami for the lifestyle," he told Dezeen. "And so, being a lifestyle city, having lifestyle brands is a natural connection, it just makes perfect sense."

Despite the obvious similarities, those behind car-branded residences are keen to emphasise the uniqueness of their own project.

Each has sought to describe how the architecture reflects the design ethos of the corresponding cars, often using indistinct terms like "performance", "craftsmanship" and "DNA".

Some design decisions do stand out however – most notably (and controversially) a car elevator in Porsche Design Tower and the upcoming Bentley Residences.

Named "the Dezervator" after Dezer Development boss Gil Dezer, the partner on both projects, it enables residents to park right inside their apartments high up from street level.

"In keeping with our identity, we have [...] consciously decided against design elements that have no function other than pure showmanship," Buescher nevertheless declared of the Porsche tower.

At Aston Martin Residences, for example, developed by G&G Business Developments and designed by architecture studio Bodus Mian Anger in collaboration with Reichman, the parking ramp is angled specially to avoid scraping the front of a low-lying sports car.

"The car parking is incredible," said Reichman. "But we wanted to concentrate more on the home than the car in this instance – it was more about the drama of living."

That manifests itself chiefly in the form of a cantilevered pool deck on the 55th floor.

A cantilevered swimming pool deck juts out near the top of Aston Martin Residences. Photo by Aston Martin

Similarly, while Pagani Residences will feature "preferred parking" and a private lounge for Pagani owners, the building's main gesture to the Italian brand is its relatively modest size, in a display of hyper-exclusivity deemed fitting for a company that manufactures only around 40 cars a year.

"All the other branded residences out there are 150 to 800-unit buildings," said Hamaoui. "That's not Pagani. We didn't want to build a mega-building, we want to build a very hand-curated and crafted, very special product."

In addition to the Dezervator, Bentley has selected other visual nods to its vehicles – with Sieger Suarez Architects' glass facade bearing diamond-shaped panels that reference Bentley car interiors.

The ambitions of the car brands making the move into real estate go well beyond the average luxury residential tower.

Pagani says its more modestly sized building is a reflection of the hypercar brand's extreme exclusivity. Image by We Are Visuals

"It was about changing the landscape of Miami," said Aston Martin's Reichman.

"We didn't want to build just another building, we wanted to create a technical and architectural masterpiece that would set new standards in the luxury housing market," said Porsche's Buescher.

"To date, there is probably no other building that has such an innovative concept at the highest level of quality."

The question now is whether other marques can sustain the momentum, and whether car-branded residences become a long-term trend or a passing fad.

"The problem is once everyone is doing this it's a zero-sum game," said Graves. "What can they offer you next? It opens up the possibility of aircraft and ships."

The facade of Bentley Residences will bear the diamond shapes commonly found in the interiors of the brand's cars. Image courtesy of Bentley

Pagani has already designed a plane interior, while Aston Martin unveiled plans for a submarine in 2017 and Porsche recently collaborated on a speed boat, as well as offering design consultation services for yachts and jets.

Meanwhile, the car-branded residences phenomenon shows little sign of slowing down – with Porsche and Aston Martin both eager for more.

"We see great potential in this field and are in promising talks for projects in top locations in various major international cities," said Buescher.

"If someone calls tomorrow and says we have an amazing space right on the edge of Central Park and we're going to do this, then we'd say absolutely let's do it," echoed Reichman. "If it's the right partner, right position and the right mentality, then yes, for sure."

Text & images courtesy of Dezeen.com

 

How to Prepare for a Morning Workout the Night Before

Can fasting improve your morning exercise?

Laurence Grigorov is director of a residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company specialises in modern, luxury apartments, cluster units and bespoke homes.

Laurence Grigorov believes that nutrition and exercise are vitally important to lead a healthy and well-balanced life. This allows Laurence Grigorov to be fully focused when working on his current projects. 

Sometimes, getting to the gym is hard enough. For others it’s made even more difficult because they’re up before the sun. Some people prefer a morning workout because of their busy lives or their energy levels. For those people, or anyone who wants to join the club, there are ways to improve exercise performance the night before based on proper nutrition.

Why Morning Training?

Training on an empty stomach, or fasted training, can make for great performances. This will enhance functionality through a metabolic switch to cellular neural networks. As an effect, plasticity improves on a neurological and synaptic (nerve) level. The heightened focus will lead to a resistance to stress. This morning alertness will turn on the “fight or flight” mindset. Our ancestors experienced similar effects when they hunted for their food in the morning. In a way, breakfast can be the reward for a morning workout.

This style can also lead to enhanced weight loss. Fasting turns off mTOR, or the protection of protein synthesis, and activates autophagy, the recycling of dead tissue cells. The body will rid itself of dead weight, be it dead cells or pre-stored glycogen (fat). While the body is in this mode of repair, it can still protect the body without food.

The Night Before

It should go without saying that the best preparation is through rest and proper nutrition. Carbohydrates have been proven to activate melatonin and enhance quality of sleep. If carbs are eaten the night before a morning workout, they will remain stored in the liver and muscles for energy. Glycogen depletion could inhibit performance via muscle fatigue, therefore it’s best to stay sufficiently supplied.

Fats, on the other hand, can be detrimental to performance at higher intensities. It’s important to limit saturated fats since they can impair muscular output. However, omega-3’s have shown a positive impact on endurance capacity and gut microbiome health through bile acids. Foods rich in omega-3’s include fatty fish, eggs, and seeds. Foods containing high contents of saturated fats include red meat and full-fat dairy.

The optimal strategy is carbohydrate loading. This will maximize glycogen storage. The choice of carbs are important too. Simple carbs are easily digestible, reduce fatigue, and support hydration. Fiber is important for digestive health, but be wary. Too much fiber can cause gastrointestinal issues, while not enough can be harmful to the gut microbiome. A proper balance between fibrous carbs and simple carbs should be considered. While fast carbs can replenish glycogen storage, fibrous carbs can keep appetite satiated.

Probiotics can also be helpful on a mental level. They can manage proper cognition, gut health, and personal mood. They can be ingested the night before a morning workout, but they are most useful in the recovery process. Yogurt, a popular choice, contains probiotics and protein that support recovery and protein synthesis.

It’s also recommended to avoid a high intake in sugar and alcohol. High sugar intakes can lead to high sugar crashes. As for alcohol, it can dehydrate the body, disrupt sleep, and impair cognition. Working out hungover is also a dangerous idea.

After adequate nutrition, the hours leading up to the workout also matter.

The Morning Of

The key to a morning workout is supporting hydration. Hydration intake affects gut function, energy levels, and cognition. Exercising in a dehydrated state can impair performance. Carbohydrates are valuable the night before because they support hydration, causing the body to hold onto water.

In order to further prevent dehydration, electrolytes can assist in water intake. These come in supplement form and can be found in lemon juice. Mixing these with a morning cup of water can help the body wake up better than caffeine. During a workout, it can reduce excess sweat and improve cognition. After getting in some water, caffeine is a helpful addition to the morning routine.

Caffeine is a popular choice for the morning. It improves focus and reduces fatigue. It can be a valuable supplement, but it should not be chosen over water. Both caffeine and water go hand in hand. Their combination, alongside the optional electrolytes, can prepare the body and mind for the best possible performance. There are a variety of forms of caffeine, such as coffee, tea, and pre-workout. If a fasted workout is the goal, they should be made plain. Sugar, milk, and oils can break the fast. Even if they are fast-digesting, the spikes in energy will lead to an eventual crash. 

Going Forward

To sum it up, a balance of fast and slow carbohydrates and an inclusion of omega-3’s can optimize the health of an athlete the night before a morning workout. Meanwhile, a reduction of saturated fats, sugar, and alcohol can be a factor to the following morning’s energy levels. So store up that muscle glycogen and sleep well, cause those weights aren’t going to lift themselves.

Text and image courtesy of www.bodybuilding.com

20 Best Things to Do in Amsterdam

 

As director of a residential property development company that specialises in modern, luxury apartments, cluster units and bespoke homes, Laurence Grigorov enjoys travelling in his spare time in order to relax and find inspiration from foreign architectural trends and influences. Laurence Grigorov is planning on visiting the beautiful and enchanting city of Amsterdam at some point in the future.

Amsterdam is an incredible European city; the charm of its iconic canals exceeds expectations, and beyond those, you have world-class museums and shopping and restaurant scenes to dig into. Given that it is incredibly accessible and well-connected to other parts of Europe, Amsterdam makes for the perfect stop at the beginning or end of a holiday across the pond — and it’s more than deserving of a standalone trip, too.

Whether you’re considering a quick weekend getaway or a longer stay, the Dutch capital promises to impress every type of traveler with myriad things to do. As someone who loves Amsterdam deeply, I have plenty of personal recommendations, and so does Pieter Feith, who's been a concierge at Pulitzer Amsterdam for more than a decade and is a member of the Les Clefs d'Or. Our list of the best things to do in Amsterdam is as multifaceted and magical as the city itself.

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Van Gogh Museum

MICHELA SIEMAN/TRAVEL + LEISURE

This is the most patronized museum in Amsterdam, welcoming upwards of 6,000 visitors each day. Guests arrive here eager to appreciate the works of the Netherlands’ homegrown artistic hero. If you really want to admire "Sunflowers" or “Bedroom in Arles” on a specific day, be sure to buy tickets in advance.

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Anne Frank House

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One of the most popular and important cultural attractions in Amsterdam, the Anne Frank House displays writings, photos, and personal items from Anne Frank, collected during her time hiding from the Nazis. The entry line often wraps around the building and time slots book up months out, so be sure to reserve tickets long before you arrive. 

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Canal Cruise

MICHELA SIEMAN/TRAVEL + LEISURE

If you go to Amsterdam and don’t tour the picturesque canals — and snap photos — were you even really there? I’ve booked an excursion on the classic salon boat “Tourist" through Pulitzer Amsterdam three times; it’s a beautiful, historic vessel that even hosted Winston Churchill back in the day. And since the tour is private, you can customize the route based on your interest.

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De Kas

RINZE VEGELIEN

Among my favorite restaurants in Amsterdam, De Kas takes farm-to-table dining quite literally, with a menu that highlights ingredients from an on-site garden, plus meats and cheeses from nearby farms. Creative spins on dishes and an always-evolving menu make it a place you’ll want to return to many times over.

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Museum van Loon

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While the museums mentioned above are classic Amsterdam sights, Feith prefers smaller museums like Museum van Loon, which is set in a private residence built in 1672. “Painter Ferdinand Bol, a pupil of Rembrandt, was the first resident here," Feith shares. The interiors are ornate and well-preserved, and there’s a lovely garden area and a café in the carriage house.

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Vondelpark

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Vondelpark opened in 1865, and within its 47 hectares (or 116 acres) travelers will find grassy lawns, ponds, and cycling/walking paths. There's also an open-air theatre that hosts summer concerts, plus a playground. “It’s much loved by locals for a morning run, a bike ride on the way to work, or to enjoy the greenery on warm days,” says Feit.  

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De Kaaskamer

De Kaaskamer is a beloved shop that stocks an impressive selection of Dutch and imported cheeses, from aged Appenzeller and raw milk gouda to Blue de Wolvega from Friesland and chèvre. You can also shop for meats, nuts, tapenades, pestos, wine, and beer here, all of which pair perfectly with fromage.

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Rijksmuseum

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The perenially busy Rijksmuseum, the national museum of the Netherlands, draws crowds with impressive exhibits dedicated to Dutch art, culture, and history.  On display in its many rooms are period artifacts, as well as paintings from masters such as Rembrandt.

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Akasha Holistic Wellbeing

COURTESY OF AKASHA HOLISTIC WELLBEING

Some travelers know Amsterdam as a party city, but visitors hoping to unwind don’t need to search far. For example, Akasha Holistic Wellbeing is an underground wellness sanctuary at the Conservatorium Hotel, complete with a pool, jacuzzi, sauna, hammam, and treatment options that range from hot stone massages to a chakra balancing experience.

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Grachtenmuseum

“Grachtenmuseum highlights the history of Amsterdam — how the city has expanded over the past 400 years, and the construction of the canal houses,” explains Feith. Fittingly, it’s set inside a 17th-century canal house on the Herengracht.

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Fabel Friet

Belgium may stake its claim to fries, but the Dutch potato situation is on point, too. Join the queue outside of Fabel Friet to savor crispy, golden spuds doused in homemade sauces like truffle mayo and curry ketchup.

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Pulitzer's Bar

COURTESY OF PULITZER BAR

Pulitzer's Bar oozes glamour and sophistication, with bow-tie-clad bartenders mixing some of the best cocktails in the city. Guests of the hotel love this onsite option, as do locals and travelers staying elsewhere, so do yourself a favor and make a reservation in advance.

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Dam Square

GEORGE PACHANTOURIS/GETTY IMAGES

Many consider Dam Square to be the most important venue of its kind in Amsterdam. It’s still a great place to kick off a sightseeing tour, as it’s home to notable tourist attractions, including the neoclassical Royal Palace, the National Monument, and the 15th-century Nieuwe Kerk (New Church).

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Distilleerderij 't Nieuwe Diep

Distilleerderij 't Nieuwe Diep is a small brewery with a tasting room inside the old pumping station of Oetewaler Polder. “Contructed in 1880 and hidden among the greenery of the park, it’s a nice place for visitors to sip spirits and soak in the ambiance,” says Feith. 

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NEMO Science Museum

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If you're traveling to Amsterdam with kids, I highly recommend checking out the NEMO Science Museum. Our toddler had a ball teetering around the interactive exhibits. Besides the all-ages educational fun, there's a hands-on lab for older children, where they can partake in experiments.

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Door 74

Fans of prohibition-era, speakeasy-style bars will love Door 74. It’s all very hush-hush, but once inside the hidden drinking den, patrons can choose a craft cocktail from an ever-changing menu of tipples with unique flavor combinations.

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Antiekcentrum Amsterdam

Antiekcentrum Amsterdam is full of vendors selling vintage jewelry, ceramics, and home decor. Even if you don't intend to buy anything, it’s interesting to browse the stalls of this large emporium of preloved items.

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Dappermarkt

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Open Monday through Saturday, Dappermarkt is a diverse and popular market on the east side of the city with more than 250 stalls along one street. Feith says that the market attracts both locals and out-of-towners with its goods.

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360volt

Equal parts gallery, workshop, and store, 360volt is home to an eye-popping assortment of new and vintage light fixtures. On any visit, you might spot a funky retro scissor lamp, a lovingly restored old-school floodlight, or a shimmering chandelier.

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Van Brienenhofje

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In Jordaan, you will find many “hofjes,” which is best translated as inner courtyards. “These were built centuries ago to house single women, nuns, or staff who were too old to work,” explains Feith. Some of these beautiful houses and courtyards are open to visitors today, including the very peaceful Van Brienenhofje.

Text and images courtesy of www.travelandleisure.com