The Peak, Hong Kong is a site at the highest point on Victoria Peak that rises to an altitude of 1,811-feet. The gradient is sharp enough that buildings appear to lean. In the late 1980s, a real estate developer sponsored an architectural competition calling for feasible luxury residential at 8 Severn Road, a parcel offering lush local vegetation, pine forests, and breathtaking panoramic views. The program required luxury apartment units, private homes, and a recreational facility. George Ranalli Architect proposed a distinctive linear arrangement of townhouse-style apartments, stacked in two’s, and private homes, and a club featuring an early infinity pool, aligned to the site’s undulating topography and spectacular vistas. The east-to-west expanse of the apartment block features interiors with floor-to-ceiling windows; terraced gardens for the lower-level units, and rooftop patios for the upper-level units, atop a solid base, embedded into the landscape, for parking, as well as a plan for private homes featuring outdoor courtyards. The recreational facility and swimming pool are framed by a spacious outdoor terrace. The Peak residential complex, completed in 2006, by Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. ranks as the priciest Hong Kong property and on the planet.
