Fit for the ‘Russian James Bond’? Zaha Hadid’s US$140 million ‘Spaceship House’ features an elevated master bedroom nestled among the trees and an underground nightclub

Sep 19 , 2020

The nickname of Vladislav Doronin’s residence, ‘The Spaceship House’, goes without saying. Photo: OKO Group/ Handout

Russian billionaire, real estate developer and Aman Resorts owner Vladislav Doronin met architecture legend Zaha Hadid through work, he mentioned he wanted a new home, she sketched a design on a napkin – and the rest is history

In the middle of a forest outside Moscow sits a home that looks unlike any other.

Nicknamed “The Spaceship House”, the futuristic-looking structure is the only private home designed by legendary, award-winning architect Zaha Hadid, who died in 2016. It was commissioned by Russian-born billionaire Vladislav Doronin, chairman of real-estate development firm OKO Group and owner of luxury resort brand Aman Resorts, who once dated supermodel Naomi Campbell.

Doronin‘s 36,000-square-foot (3,344-square-metre) home, which he calls the “Capital Hill Residence”, sits in the Barvikha Forest and features a master bedroom perched atop a narrow tower more than 30 metres (100 feet) in the air. The lower part of the home, which is partially underground, includes a 20-metre (65-foot) swimming pool a spa, and a nightclub, Doronin told the Financial Times in 2018. A spokesperson for Doronin confirmed that the residence cost around US$140 million to build.

Doronin’s neighbourhood is Rublyovka, an ultra-exclusive, leafy suburb that’s home to government officials and old money, where homes can cost up to US$80 million, according to Leonid Nikitskiy, the head of country real estate at Moscow Sotheby’s International Realty.

Doronin initially wanted Hadid to design him a flat in Moscow, but that project never happened. After he bought the land in the forest, he asked Hadid to design him a house there instead.

Hadid and Doronin became friends through their business dealings, Doronin said in a 2018 interview with the Financial Times. Hadid even referred to him as “the Russian James Bond”.

“We had lunch at The Wolseley in London and I asked her to build my house,” Doronin told The Times. “I said, I want to wake up in the morning and not see anybody, just to look over the top of the trees. She drew a sketch on the napkin and I said, ’You’re hired.’” The final product turned out very similar to Hadid‘s napkin sketches, Doronin said.

Doronin’s master bedroom is elevated above the trees. Photo: OKO Group/Handout

The first design visuals of the home were seen in 2008, but it wasn't completed until 2018 – two years after Hadid died.

“She wanted this skinny leg,” Doronin told The Times. “The contractors and engineers said, ‘We can’t do this’ – but she was right.”