Dark charcoal bedroom: channel-tufted white velvet bed, brass sputnik chandelier, taupe drapes, city skylin…

Karachi, Pakistan · 2024

The Clifton Penthouse

A penthouse above the Arabian Sea. Dark, still, and made for the evening.

The brief

The client is a second-generation shipping family. The penthouse sits on the 22nd floor in Clifton. Sea on two sides, city on the third. They entertain late and often.

Sea light is the problem here. By noon it bleaches every surface. By evening the glare turns to haze. The developer's fit-out fought this with white. It lost.

The slab heights were low, 2.7 metres clear. Salt air corrodes untreated metal. Every piece had to be finished for the coast. The lift took nothing over 2.4 metres.

The approach

We turned the penthouse toward the night. Walls in charcoal lime plaster. Ceilings in black lacquer to lift the height. Bronze mesh over the glass tames the day. At dusk the skyline does the rest.

The Noctis dining table anchors the sea room. Smoked glass on a fluted black pedestal. A Meridian sofa and cocktail table hold the lounge. 2 Noctis lounge chairs face the window. Noctis bar cabinet: black lacquer, smoked glass. Noctis pendants drop low over the table.

All metal was patinated and waxed against the salt. Pieces were sized to the service lift. The table's pedestal travelled in 2 sections. We joined it on site, invisibly. The client hosted 30 guests that week.

Interior design
Bespoke furniture
Lighting
Turnkey delivery

Before and after

Before · awaiting photographyAfter

Walnut dining table beneath brass pendant lamps in front of a tower window at sunset
Linen sofa beneath a tiered crystal chandelier with walnut coffee table and paired floor lamps
Full-height black marble fireplace wall between windows, white sofas and black plinth coffee tables
Charcoal bedroom with black channel-tufted headboard, damask cushions and a crystal chandelier
Amber glass globe pendants at varied heights against black panelling and a bronze ornament
Black marble tiled bathroom with a white freestanding bathtub beside a sheer-curtained window
Grey sofa lit by three pleated lamps in a near-black lounge