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Almost everything that we built was created for women, because behind every man there is a woman. Wife or mother, daughter or beloved — each of them should live in a comfortable and ideal house according to her ideas. And I am pleased that we are able to organize the work so that it is not exhausting for the client, and the repair time flies by quickly and only with positive emotions!

Gleb Polonsky, leading architect of the architectural and construction company FACE-HOME

— The Internet increasingly captures such a request as «a full-cycle architectural bureau.» Your company is also a full cycle bureau. What does this mean?

— A full-cycle bureau is an architectural bureau with its own construction division, that is, a company that works in an integrated manner — both designs and builds. The demand for a comprehensive service has long been pushed by the situation on the market, when customers received their interior in parts: first, architects worked out the project, and then construction teams joined in. So the responsibility was blurred, shifted from the architect to the builders, and those — for various reasons, sometimes from an excess of «creativity», and sometimes from a desire to make their task easier — had alternative proposals. And the project was «finalized», often beyond recognition. Therefore, the understanding came that only «release from one hand» will provide full end-to-end control over the object. And this is beneficial primarily to the client.

— And what exactly is this benefit?

— In time and money. When an object is managed centrally, there are practically no delays in terms. As for money, it is even simpler: we start counting it already at the design stage and move strictly within the given budget. Therefore, we do not have a situation when the architect developed the project, the builders took note of it, and it turned out that the customer could not afford the repair.

— For the client — yes, it is profitable. And what is the full cycle beneficial for the company?

“Growing” as a construction department is a natural form of development for an architectural bureau, because the function of control over construction is predetermined by the profession itself. We would hardly have developed differently: the result is important to us, and it is we, and not the builders invited by the customer, who “start the mechanism” and manage the facility.

But construction is a troublesome business, so many architects limit themselves to only architectural supervision. We are interested in the complex: with this approach, we control everything, and as a result, the objects do not “freeze”, and the interior comes out one on one with visualization and with an estimate. And the customer does not have to «change shoes on the go» — get used to the fact that the house will not look like it was previously planned, or look for the missing money.

By the way, precisely because we work in an integrated manner, our company does not have the concept of «designer’s supervision»: the architect accompanies the project at all stages of implementation, but customers do not pay for this as a separate service.

— How do you see people who choose full-cycle companies?

“These are mature clients, those who have already experimented with teams and know exactly where the free cheese is. They have gone through missed deadlines and manipulations with estimates, when specially unaccounted for work pops up later and grows like a snowball (it would annoy me!). At the same time, such customers are very demanding on the aesthetic and technical aspects of the project — they have made several apartments and understand what a comfortable home is.

— And what, in your opinion, should be paid attention to when choosing a company?

— When choosing an architectural and construction company, there is an unspoken rule: first of all, cut off those who are below the market. The second is portfolio. It is important that the portfolio does not contain visualizations, but photographs of real objects, and that you like these objects.

— And who in family interiors more often determines the style, a man or a woman?

— I have never encountered a man deciding on a style without female participation (with the exception of bachelors, of course). There are also quite a few bachelor apartments in our portfolio, but for us they are “continuation” objects: as soon as the customer changes marital status, our cooperation resumes.

It is thanks to women that gentle color combinations and replicas from the classics appeared on the objects of our bureau. And although men are more restrained in stylistic preferences, how can you refuse the second half?

Portfolio of architectural bureau FACE-HOME