Building on a Sloping Site: Liability or the Architect’s Gift
Building a house on a sloping site costs less in land but needs retaining walls, drainage and a stepped foundation. Real numbers and what relief gives…
Grounds & landscape
Articles in this section — from the studio design and construction practice. Total: 16.
Rublyovka or Novaya Riga: Where to Build Your House
Rublyovka or Novaya Riga: an architect compares the two directions — forest and terrain versus open fields, roads, settlement codes, land prices and what you can…
The Best Villages on Rublyovka: Where to Build Your House
The best villages on Rublyovka through an architect eye: Barvikha, Zhukovka, Sady Mayendorf. Buildable footprint, design codes, protection zones, land prices.
How to Choose Land for a House: An Architect’s Checklist
An architect's checklist on how to choose land for building a house: buildable footprint, soil, groundwater, grid capacity, trees and the mistakes buyers make.
Decorative Garden Pond: Living Water or a Costly Mistake
A decorative garden pond on a country estate: what it really costs to build and to run each year, wintering depth, bio-plateau, EPDM versus bentonite.
Site Drainage and Grading: What Gets Forgotten Before the Excavation
Autumn turns an excavation into a pool. Storm water arithmetic, five drainage mistakes and why the level of the house matters more than the marble.
Estate Shade: Pergola, Pavilion or a Century-Old Pine
Pergola, pavilion or a mature tree: three ways to bring shade to an estate. Real 2026 costs, snow loads, the usual mistakes and how we plan…
The Garden That Grows Up With the House: Why Landscape Is Designed for Twenty Years
Why trees are planned before the foundation: growth rates by species, what mature trees really cost, planting distances and a garden that appreciates.
The Pool Visible From the Road: Architectural Error or Manifesto
pool architectural element estate — Is an open pool a status declaration or an error? We compare French and Florida logic and show how placement affects…
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