Apartment for an antiquarian in St Petersburg
The project carefully preserves the character of the 1912 building associated with Dovlatov. The aim was to evoke Leningrad from the 1930s to the 1970s while retaining elements of the building’s original Art Nouveau style.
The apartment is in a 1912 residential building with a courtyard on Rubinstein Street, famously associated with the writer Sergei Dovlatov. Its owner is a well-known Moscow bibliophile and antiques dealer.
He bought the St Petersburg apartment to create a literary salon with a music room: a place for evenings, lectures, concerts, auctions and gatherings with friends.
The apartment had not been renovated since the 1960s, and much of its original plasterwork had been lost. Within 150 square metres, RUGER DESIGN created a bar area, living room, dining room, breakfast area and guest bathroom. Two bedrooms occupy the left-hand side: the main bedroom with its own bathroom, and a child’s room.
The result is eclectic, as often happens when different eras, rather than simply different styles, are brought together. The designers created a cohesive interior and an intimate setting for literary gatherings and receptions. The project appeared in The Most Beautiful Rooms in the World (Rizzoli, New York, USA) and in AD Russia as “Apartment for an antiquarian in St Petersburg”.
“Both designers note that this was a rare case in their practice: the client did not interfere with the renovation process at all.”
