Rooftop Bars That Prove Cocktails Taste Better in the Sky

Sky's the limit!

Patios are great, but rooftop bars are even better – especially ones that provide unusual perspectives on their cities.

You don’t need to be reminded of the benefits of an al fresco happy hour. After all, terraces are revered for good reason. But putting a bar on a rooftop elevates the experience even further – both literally and figuratively. Here are four projects that prove that summer drinks are best served on ice – and in the sky.

Westlight at the William Vale (Brooklyn)

"CREATION, NOT REPLICATION"

- Alessandro Munge

At a recent edition of Azure Talks, Studio Munge‘s Alessandro Munge noted that he designs around individuality. “For leaders in design,” he said, “the responsibility is around creation, not replication. We create with the end user in mind.” Munge achieved that with Westlight at the William Vale. Perched 22 storeys up, there may be no bar in Brooklyn quite like it. Designed for travellers and locals alike, the venue was designed to balance intimacy with the splendour of Manhattan’s skyline.

Munge designed the space for subtle surprise. Visitors enter Westlight through a corridor  featuring contrasting patterned walls and tiled floors. They emerge into a room that employs welcoming, sensual materials – black iron, leather, velvet, stone – contrasted with floor-to-ceiling windows. Those windows face west from its Brooklyn perch, bringing Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn into focus – providing a commanding backdrop.

Mark Teo’s full list of rooftop bars