The estate was established in the 18th century and initially owned by Count Golovkin, a close associate of Peter the Great and Russia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was granted a plot on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, where Tsar Peter allowed courtiers to build European-style country homes. Over two centuries, the estate changed hands among several noble families until Privy Councillor Platon Zubov bought it in the late 19th century and named it “Otrada” (“Joy”). During this time, the estate grew to include a main two-story building in the popular early 19th-century neo-Greek style, several wings including a Gothic English house and a wooden structure styled as a Swiss chalet, as well as a vast orchard and landscape park with cascading ponds. Perhaps due to its size, after the revolution, the building first became an agricultural school and later, a tractor vocational school. Despite being recognized as a cultural heritage site, the estate entered the 21st century in poor condition: the main and Gothic houses were in ruins, the Swiss chalet was lost, the park was abandoned, and the ponds had flooded. A private investor bought the property and turned to us for a unique restoration solution. The Japanese have a renowned ability to integrate antiquity seamlessly into a modern context. Our project aimed to combine two different architectural styles within the estate, and both Russian and Japanese architects collaborated on it. The Russian specialist focused on the historical part, preserving and museumizing fragments from the 18th-19th centuries. Meanwhile, the Japanese architect worked on the exterior of the new annex. He proposed forms and materials that contrasted with the main building while allowing the extension to blend into the landscape. Reflective glass on the façade and decorative concrete with a three-dimensional textured pattern create the illusion that the annex isn’t there. Angles cut at various inclines further enhance its fusion with nature. In Russia, mansions are often restored as private estates or country hotels. Our proposal was to transform the manor house into a multifunctional art center. This unique concept respects the estate’s history while giving it new life, rather than preserving it as a static museum of noble life. This approach requires significant financial investment and patronage, and so Otrada is now seeking investors.

Year 2015
Team