From Grand Entrances to Elevated Parking, New Amenities Cater to Auto Enthusiasts

Photo Credit: DBOX

Subterranean sophistication

For those auto enthusiasts who wish to keep their luxury cars secure and their comings and goings discreet, motor courts and parking facilities below street level provide both privacy and peace of mind. 108 Leonard, a landmark luxury condominium building in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood, offers residents the convenience of its private, indoor motor reception area. This barrel-vaulted, stone-clad space makes daily trips and Hamptons getaways easy and elegant via valet parking service and a heated, glass-enclosed waiting area.

A choreographed approach

Those who’ve motored up the long driveway of a sprawling country estate are familiar with the sense of anticipation and grandeur this ritual imparts. In designing Miami’s Jade Signature, Herzog and de Meuron bring this processional drama to a luxury condominium development in an urban setting. Turning off Collins Avenue, where the city’s flashiest cars famously come to cruise, the Jade Signature is approached via its grand, spiraling driveway surrounded by lush landscaping. This extended drive serves to both prolong the act of arrival and ease the transition from exterior to interior space. At the impressive porte-cochere entrance, residents are greeted by valet attendants who park their vehicles in the structure below.

Photo Credit: Artistic Concept

Driven by design

A new vogue for condominium developments inspired by car design marries automobile and architecture, to the delight of motorsport enthusiasts. Luxury auto marques are renowned for their sumptuous materials and artisan craftsmanship, and Miami’s Aston Martin Residences upholds this love of beauty in a new condominium tower. The legendary elegance of these British cars is evoked in the color palettes and balanced proportions of the interiors (cars and residences are both inspired by the Fibonacci sequence), even down to details like the leather door pulls and the stitching in the upholstery.

Parking, elevated 

To many car connoisseurs, automobiles are an art form—the sleek lines and lustrous surfaces akin to a sculpture by Brancusi or Arp. Several new condominium residences recognize these collectors’ passion with en suite parking that doubles as a gallery for displaying their cars. Take the Porsche Design Tower Miami, which was built around its three patented car elevators. Residents drive directly into the fully automated lift, which whisks them and their vehicle directly to their home above. Each luxury residence comes with at least two “sky garages” with nothing but a glass wall separating your Lamborghini from your living room. “We made the building about the car collector,” said developer Gil Dezer. “There’s an owner with a $22 million Ferrari that he only uses on the weekends.”