Penthouse on the Park /
KNOF design
KNOF design creates spectacular 360° Sunrise-Sunset Penthouse in Sofia
KNOF design (based in
London and founded by New
York designer Susan Knof )
has completed its first major
commission: the remodelling
of a spectacular 360°
penthouse in the Bulgarian
capital of Sofia, uniting two
separate apartments into a
single 3,600 sq ft space. The
new, one-storey penthouse
features floor-to-ceiling
glazing all the way round and
offers its owners incredible
panoramic views over the city
and adjacent mountains with
all the benefits of continuous
natural light, from sunrise
through to sunset.
‘Making the most of the light
throughout the day also
meant the interiors scheme
was predominantly created
in natural and light colours’
added Susan Knof, ‘from
the pale-wash of the timber
flooring to the pure white
of the kitchen. To ensure the
apartment had personality
accents, strong and punchy
colour was also introduced,
especially for the children’s
bedrooms and playroom
and the scheme’s stunning
ensuites in purple and green
mosaic.’
The Brief
The brief from the client
was to merge two existing
properties (an east and west
apartment) to create a single,
open living environment that
allowed for an unobstructed
kitchen, dining, living and
entertaining space, where
full advantage could be
taken of the views, whilst
also providing private areas
for the master bedroom and
children’s areas.
Interior Design Language
‘On entering the apartment,
the language of the interior
scheme is immediately
apparent’, commented
Susan Knof. ‘The elegant, yet
subdued, use of soft natural
materials greets you in the
primary entrance hall. As you
proceed past the naturaldyed, grey-veneered walls,
the open space is subtle and
sophisticated and allows
the gorgeous mountainous
natural environment beyond
to take centre stage.’
Architectural Challenges
From an interior architectural
standpoint, the main
challenge of the project was
the original planning of the
overall building – especially
the existing plumbing stacks,
which allowed little possibility
for exploration of different
bathroom locations and the
new design very much had to
work around that. Structurally,
there were also given core
walls that had to remain in
place. In addition, the full
height windows also offered
limited space for new ceiling
and lighting logistics, and,
most restrictive of all, the M&E
services were planned along
the perimeter full height
glazing walls, seemingly
blocking the views and the
implementation of sheer or
black-out curtaining. This was
overcome by re-coordinating
the mechanical layouts and
plans, so that the air handling
units were brought inside
the internal core walls and
concealed in custom joinery
units.
Design Walk-Through
The entrance hall features
gentle grey-toned marble
flooring with subtle and
beautiful natural striations.
There are full-height, naturaldyed, grey veneered walls
which wrap t he existing
building core, plus a new,
flush, integrated and linear
bespoke lighting detail which
demarcates the space as you
step beyond to enter the
grand, light-filled main space.
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‘Our clients – an international
family of four – purchased
the flats in a prominent high
rise in the city’, commented
Susan Knof, Creative Director
and Founder of KNOF design,
‘and briefed us to combine
the apartments to create a
single, luxurious, bright and
open environment, which
would make the best use of
the incoming light at different
times of the day, but which
would also allow them to
control the degree of privacy
they wanted at particular
times or for particular spaces.’
The light-privacy balance in
the penthouse was achieved
by fitting soft voiles all the
way around the 360° glazing,
as well as black-out blinds,
so that the owners have the
choice of completely open
living; light-filled but private
living using the voiles or
else blocking the light out
completely – perfect for
watching movies for example.