Studio
VOLUM is an architecture, research and building practice working between Central Asia and Europe.
The practice
The studio was founded in Tashkent in 2019 by a small group of architects who wanted to build in the region rather than write about it. We now work across four countries, on buildings, districts and interiors.
We are deliberately small. Every project is led by a partner and drawn in-house, which means the person who set the concept is the person who resolves the junction two years later on site.
Our research runs alongside the work rather than after it — climate measurement, material sourcing and the reuse of vernacular plans feed directly into what we build.
Core principles
Four positions that survive every brief.
We read the site, its climate and its history before we draw. What is already there sets the terms.
A plan should be explainable in one sentence. If it cannot be, it is not finished.
Materials are chosen for how they age and how they are made, not for how they render.
We detail for the second owner. Buildings that can be repaired are buildings that survive.
Process
Understanding
Site survey, brief interrogation, climate and planning constraints. We do not draw until this is written down.
Concept
Massing, section and material direction tested against the constraints — usually three schemes, one carried forward.
Development
Plan resolution, circulation, daylight and the relationship between inside and ground.
Detail
Junctions, tolerances and the material palette specified to a level a contractor can price without guessing.
Delivery
Tender, site supervision and the record set. We stay on the project until the last inspection.
Studio founded, Tashkent
Countries with built work
Architects and designers
Projects delivered to date
Team
Adiz Saidov
Founding Partner
Nilufar Karimova
Partner, Architecture
Timur Rakhimov
Associate, Masterplanning
Elena Duarte
Associate, Interiors
Bekzod Yusupov
Senior Architect
Marta Kaczmarek
Landscape Lead
Comune di Roma
Norwegian Polar Institute
Terra Holding
Ministry of Culture, Uzbekistan
Nexus Group
Almaty Municipality
Fondation Kesh
Private clients, Lisbon and Tashkent
Recognition
