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25-440: Completed in 1931, the building was designed by Ernest Isbell Barott , of the firm Barott and Blackader , with a height of 96 metres (316 ft) or 23 storeys. Built at a cost of $ 2,851,076.00 (equivalent to $ 54,622,444 in 2023), Barott endeavored to design a modern building which would, at the same time, fit with the square's historic surroundings. The building's setbacks at the 8th, 13th, and 16th floors allow more light on

50-456: A granite base in combination with aluminum spandrels . The interior doors are inlaid with white metal , with the exterior gates in bronze . Surrounding the doors and covering the walls and floors of the entrance lobby are a variety of marbles , including Belgian Black, Yellow Sienna, Tinos Greek, St. Genevieve Golden Vein, Verde Antique, and Moutonelle. Flooring above the ground level is made of terrazzo with brass strips. Bronze also makes up

75-420: A steel frame structural system in the late 19th century eliminated the need for structural setbacks. The use of a frame building technology combined with conveniences such as elevators and motorized water pumps influenced the physical growth and density of buildings in large cities . Driven by the desire to maximize the usable floor area, some developers avoided the use of setbacks, creating in many instances

100-566: A building must have a pitched roof or be set back before rising to the permitted height. In many cities, building setbacks add value to the interior real estate adjacent to the setback by creating usable exterior spaces. These setback terraces are prized for the access they provide to fresh air, skyline views, and recreational uses such as gardening and outdoor dining. In addition, setbacks promote fire safety by spacing buildings and their protruding parts away from each other and allow for passage of firefighting apparatus between buildings. In

125-746: A range of fire safety and health hazards. Thus, the 38-story Equitable Building , constructed in New York in 1915, produced a huge shadow, said to "cast a noonday shadow four blocks long", which effectively deprived neighboring properties of sunlight. It resulted in the 1916 Zoning Resolution , which gave New York City's skyscrapers their typical setbacks and soaring designs. Today many jurisdictions rely on urban planning regulations, such as zoning ordinances , which use setbacks to make sure that streets and yards are provided more open space and adequate light and air. For example, in high density districts, such as Manhattan in New York , front walls of buildings at

150-418: A recession or recessed story. Importantly, one or more step-backs lowers the building's center of mass , making it more stable. A setback as a minimum one-bay indent across all stories is called a recessed bay or recess and is the more common exterior form of an alcove . Notable upper stories forming a step-back may form a belvedere – and in residential use are considered the penthouse . If part of

175-437: A separate smaller 'house' that was constructed on the roof of an apartment building. Architecturally it refers specifically to a structure on the roof of a building that is set back from its outer walls. These structures do not have to occupy the entire roof deck. Recently, luxury high rise apartment buildings have begun to designate multiple units on the entire top residential floor or multiple higher residential floors including

200-402: A single apartment may occupy an entire floor. Penthouses often have their own private access where access to any roof, terrace, and any adjacent setback is exclusively controlled. Penthouses can also differentiate themselves by luxurious amenities such as high-end appliances , finest materials fitting, luxurious flooring system, and more. Features not found in the majority of apartments in

225-545: Is small and not immediately noticeable from street-level. The building resembles New York's Empire State Building , completed the same year, and was built for Aldred and Company Limited, a New York City -based international finance company. Barott began work on the Aldred Building around 1927, with original design for the building only 12 storeys tall, as building heights were limited to 130 feet (40 m) in Montreal until

250-511: The United States , setback requirements vary among municipalities . For example, the absence of sky exposure plane provisions in Chicago 's Zoning Code makes the Chicago skyline quite different from the skyline of New York where construction of tall buildings was guided by the zoning ordinance since 1916. The New York City Zoning Ordinance also provided another kind of setback guideline, one that

275-426: The street line may be limited to a specified height or number of stories. This height is also called base height. Above that height, the buildings are required to set back behind a theoretical inclined plane, called sky exposure plane , which cannot be penetrated by the building's exterior wall. For the same reason, setbacks may also be used in lower density districts to limit the height of perimeter walls above which

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300-565: The United States in the following years. The popularity of penthouses stemmed from the setbacks allowing for significantly larger private outdoor terrace spaces than traditional cantilevered balconies . Due to the desirability of having outdoor space, buildings began to be designed with setbacks that could accommodate the development of apartments and terraces on their uppermost levels. Modern penthouses may or may not have terraces. Upper floor space may be divided among several apartments, or

325-563: The building may include a private entrance or elevator , or higher/vaulted ceilings. In buildings consisting primarily of single level apartments, penthouse apartments may be distinguished by having two or more levels. They may also have such features as a terrace, fireplace , more floor area, oversized windows, multiple master suites, den/office space, hot-tubs, and more. They might be equipped with luxury kitchens featuring stainless steel appliances, granite counter-tops, breakfast bar/island, and more. Penthouse residents often have fine views of

350-405: The building's surface area. Numerous services in the Aldred Building identify it as a modern structure, including conditioned ventilation in the basement and first nine floors, with fresh air 'washed' and filtered in an air-cleaner. Aldred Building features a central vacuum system , an electric time-clock system, an incinerator, paper baler and an ozone machine in the kitchen to eliminate odours. All

375-425: The city skyline . Access to a penthouse apartment is usually provided by a separate elevator. Residents can also access a number of building services, such as pickup and delivery of everything from dry cleaning to dinner; reservations to restaurants and events made by building staffers; and other concierge services . Penthouse apartments can also be situated on the corner of a building, providing 90° or more views of

400-557: The drum mechanisms for an elevator . The name penthouse is derived from apentis , an Old French word meaning "attached building" or "appendage". The modern spelling is influenced by a 16th-century folk etymology that combines the Middle French word for "slope" ( pente ) with the English noun house (the meaning at that time was "attached building with a sloping roof or awning"). European designers and architects long recognized

425-418: The floors contain built-in ducts for electrical and telephone cables. The six high-speed elevators were the most modern available in the day, and were installed by Otis Fensom . The cars travel at 700 feet (210 m) per minute and have teak interiors. Setback (architecture) A setback , in the specific sense of a step-back , is a step-like form of a wall or other building frontage, also termed

450-439: The frames for windows of the ground floor bank, and is used in trim throughout the building along with stainless steel . The steel structure of the building is supported two floors below street level on a solid concrete mat which is nine feet thick. The steel is fireproofed with terra-cotta tiles and supports reinforced concrete floors. The steel structure allows for a total of 840 windows, which cover approximately 20 percent of

475-541: The passing of a bylaw allowing taller buildings provided they made use of setbacks to reduce their overall mass, similar to one in New York City . Barott was able to take advantage of a 1929 clause in the bylaw that allowed buildings on public squares to exceed the then maximum height by up to 200 feet (61 m), if certain restrictions were adhered to. The building's total floor area is 238,946 square feet (22,198.8 m). The exterior utilizes Indiana limestone set on

500-518: The potential in creating living spaces that could make use of rooftops and such setbacks . Penthouses first appeared in US cities in the 1920s with the exploitation of roof spaces for upscale property. The first recognized development was atop the Plaza Hotel overlooking Central Park in New York City in 1923. Its success caused a rapid development of similar luxury penthouse apartments in most major cities in

525-411: The roof, then they are a loft or attic / garret . Setbacks were used by people to increase the height of masonry structures by distributing gravity loads produced by building materials such as clay, stone, or brick. This was achieved by regularly reducing the footprint of each level located successively farther from the ground. Setbacks also allowed the natural erosion to occur without compromising

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550-410: The square and create a cathedral-like massing, reflecting the adjacent Notre-Dame Basilica . The building uses limestone , common to other buildings in the area. The Aldred Building also attempts to address both Place d'Armes and Notre-Dame Street which do not meet at right angles, aligning with both streets until the third floor, where it then steps back and becomes square to Notre-Dame. The odd angle

575-667: The structural integrity of the building. The most prominent example of a setback technique is the step pyramids of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt , such as the Teppe Sialk ziggurat or the Pyramid of Djoser . For centuries, setbacks were a structural necessity for virtually all multi-level load-bearing masonry buildings and structures. As architects learned how to turn setbacks into an architectural feature, most setbacks were however less pronounced than in step pyramids and often skillfully masked by rich ornamentation . The introduction of

600-503: The top floor as penthouse apartments, and outfit them to include ultra-luxury fixtures, finishes, and designs which are different from all other residential floors of the building. These penthouse apartments are not typically set back from the building's outer walls, but are instead flush with the rest of the building and simply differ in size, luxury, and consequently price. High-rise buildings can also have structures known as mechanical penthouses that enclose machinery or equipment such as

625-560: Was intended to increase the amount of public space in the city. This was achieved by increasing the minimum setback at street level, creating in each instance an open space, often referred to as plaza , in front of the building. Penthouse apartment A penthouse is an apartment or unit traditionally on the highest floor of an apartment building , condominium , hotel , or tower . Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features. The term 'penthouse' originally referred, and sometimes still does refer, to

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