An Instant Garden: The Truth About Planting Mature Trees
Planting mature trees in autumn: the real window runs to March, root balls over a tonne, 90-95 percent survival, 2026 costs and five expensive myths.
Studio journal
Articles
Notes from the studio practice: architecture and façades, interiors and materials, grounds, money and world trends.
Building Through Winter or Shutting the Site Down Until April
Carry on building through winter or shut the site down until April: the four conditions for winter works, what a proper shutdown covers and what downtime…
Country House Kitchen Design: the White Kitchen Is Over
Deep colour instead of white, different stone on perimeter and island, 1,200–1,600 m³/h extraction with make-up air: designing a kitchen in a 1,000 m² house.
What You Can Actually Build on Your Plot: Zoning and Estate Covenants
Footprint, height limits, setbacks, protection corridors and estate covenants: how to know what house will actually stand on a plot before you buy it.
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…
10 Red Flags in a Building Plot: When to Walk Away
Power line corridors, flood zones, peat, disputed boundaries: ten red flags that make an architect advise against a plot. What to check before the deposit.
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.
Materials That Age Well: Designing for Patina
Patina in interiors is a material property you design for: unlacquered brass, pre-patinated copper, corten, limestone and oiled oak, and how to specify them.
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