Miloradovo
The house in Miloradovo was built around fifteen years ago and, by the time we began working on it, required a substantial renovation. Its original interior offered a rather fantastical interpretation of Italy, closer to a theatrical set than to an authentic living environment. Our aim was to preserve the warmth and memories accumulated within the house over the years while giving it a more natural and considered Italian character, combining contemporary engineering with the relaxed atmosphere of country living.
Year: 2023
Country: Russia
City: Moscow
Space: 1000 sq.m.
Time limit: 2023
The changes to the layout were deliberately restrained, while the building services and engineering systems were almost entirely replaced and brought up to contemporary standards.
One of the most significant architectural interventions took place in the living room. The original two-tier windows were transformed into a series of tall, unified openings. This gave the central volume a much stronger sense of scale and continuity and allowed it to visually connect the different parts of the house.
For the interiors, we wanted to avoid both an overtly contemporary aesthetic and a literal recreation of historic Italy. There was no intention to imitate a palazzo or reproduce the interiors of the Palladian era. Instead, we worked with atmosphere: a restrained palette, carefully selected objects and materials, proportion, and a certain studied informality that introduces a subtle sense of Italian dolce far niente.
The renovation extended beyond the interiors. The façades were reconsidered together with the surrounding landscape, including the main entrance, arrival sequence and inner garden. Architecture, interiors and landscape were therefore treated as parts of a single composition.
The delicacy of this intervention was essential to the project. The house already had its own history and many memories attached to it, so the intention was not to replace it with something entirely new, but to preserve its existing warmth and carry it forward into a new interpretation. Contemporary technical solutions are therefore integrated almost invisibly into a setting that retains the character of an established home while evoking the warmth and relaxed spirit of Italy, just outside Moscow.
