Cats on a Cool Roof

Written by Cara Greenberg

Cat people everywhere will understand why the safety and welfare of Simon and Felix, a pair of silky feline brothers, was a key factor in the architectural design of Stephen Quandt and Thom Heyer's roof terrace nine floors above Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. The enclosed sides of the 500-square-foot structure, and its cantilevered trellis-like roof, which creates dramatic plays of light and shadow throughout the day, are made of ipe, a Brazilian hardwood from sustainable forests that naturally resists rot and insects. The wood "ribs" were carefully spaced to address privacy issues (they're surrounded by taller buildings), but even more important, "we insisted the space be made safe for our cats," Quandt says. "The gaps between strips were measured so they can neither get out nor climb up."

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