The studio of Roman Leonidov began working on the project of this suburban residential house in mid-2011, and now the construction is already entering its final stage. The house is being built in the east of the Moscow region, on a site practically free from buildings. Around the house, wherever you look, there is a dense deciduous forest and green lawns. The terms of reference dictated the architects to arrange a rather impressive volume on a square plot of 0.35 hectares in such a way as to leave space for an orchard and sports. And since the house itself in the plan got the shape of an elongated rectangle, the authors of the project inscribed it in a square exactly on one of the sides. Thanks to this offset from the central axis behind the house, a vast space for sports and recreation has appeared, where a garden, a barbecue area and a children's playground are adjacent to squash, streetball and table tennis courts. In fact, the customer's passion for sports became the starting point of the project - it was reflected in the activity of the architectural image, and in the rationality of the internal planning, and in the logic of courtyard territories.
In general, from the first renders seen, this house is instantly recognizable as Leonid's: expressive multidirectional arches of roofs, huge terraces, a clear division into two wings connected by a central core with the main entrance. Due to the terraces, these "wings" protrude noticeably forward, as if flanking the central two-storey volume, which Roman Leonidov almost completely glazed and covered with a sloping roof. Twin, wood-paneled columns support the exposed structural skeleton of the roof and the stone slab of the open terrace at the second floor level.
The right wing, which contains all the sports functions that require enclosed spaces - a gym, a swimming pool and a steam room - flies forward in a dynamic glass volume, the flat roof of which serves as a large terrace protected from the sun and precipitation by a long undulating canopy. On the left, the composition is balanced by a stern canopy, conventionally assuming the role of the left wing. A promenade is organized under it, leading to the central entrance to the house, and the canopy itself has been turned into another terrace - this time open.
In general, the abundance of terraces and huge open spaces in this project is amazing. In fact, they surround the house from all sides - from almost any part of it, be it the first or second floor, you can get to one of the terraces and feel one on one with the birch grove surrounding the plot. And inside the building, thanks to the panoramic glazing of the facades, the feeling of unity with the surroundings does not leave for a minute, and the boundaries of the house expand almost to infinity.
The architectural image of this country house is based on the intersection and interaction of simple geometric shapes and planes. So, a giant wall made of natural stone through and through pierces the main volume, dividing it into two parts and towering above the roof. It is echoed by a lower but massive stone wall, which the architect makes the supporting structure of the right wing. These articulated verticals diversify the horizontal direction of terraces and awnings.
The house is divided into several parts, not only visually, but also functionally. So, the first floor is divided into a sports area and a public area, which contains a kitchen, an office, a recreation room, a wine room and a bar, as well as a billiard room and a music room, from which there is an exit to the backyard. The connecting link between sports and everyday life is the double-height living room, the main decoration of which is the stone portal of the fireplace and the wall-aquarium separating the living room and the kitchen. A wide staircase rises from the living room to the second floor, leading to an internal balcony, which, in turn, serves as a buffer zone between the master and guest bedrooms.
Typically, architects use the same materials in the interior as in the exterior - wood, stone and glass. Even more connection of the external appearance with the internal is strengthened by the wooden roof structures brought into the interior. The unity with nature is also emphasized by the deliberate refusal of customers from technology and electronic devices. There is not even a TV here, because the fire in the fireplace and the forest outside the window, according to the owners, provide much more interesting food for the eyes and mind.
