Developers of high-end apartment buildings had previously only to paint walls white, throw in a granite counter top in the kitchen, add a few gleaming taps and call it a day - expecting that buyers would come in and gut everything anyway.
Not any more. In a trend that is making itself felt in residential buildings from New York to Tel Aviv, designers are increasingly being asked to add customised design elements to their projects, stamping a signature on them that becomes identifiable with that building.
Graphic art of elephants on a living room wall, sculpted claw-foot bathtubs and gilded bathroom tiles that one might find in a luxury mansion are the sort of touches being produced for 100-plus unit buildings.
'It's really a very big trend today, and getting stronger and more pronounced,' said Gal Nauer, founder, president and chief designer of Gal Nauer Architects in New York, which has been behind highly customised work for apartment buildings in New York, Berlin, Gdansk and Tel Aviv.
New York designer Vicente Wolf likens the transition to going from ready-to-wear to couture, from elevating what was once 'a boring box' into something that is rife with individuality - even if the same elements are repeated all the way down the building.
For 15 Union Square West in New York, a recent condo development project of his where prices range from US$2.5 to US$12 million, Wolf collaborated with Sherle Wagner, one of the design world's most noted names in luxury hardware, and whose pieces are typically found in Middle Eastern palaces.
