Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The first stream of an online educational course has been completed at the Civil Engineering Institute of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. Architectural designIt is being implemented on the national Open Education platform. The course was developed by Alexandra Zatsepin, a senior lecturer at the Institute of Civil Engineering and a member of the Union of Architects, with the support of the SPbPU Open Education Center and major developers—PJSC Samolet Group of Companies and Brusnika LLC. Over 300 students completed the program in the first cohort. The next cohort is scheduled to begin on March 30, 2026.
The main objective of the course is to explore modern trends in multi-apartment building design. Students learn to develop space-planning solutions that take into account urban planning constraints, ergonomic principles, safety, and accessibility.
The program includes four modules: "Building Placement on a Site," "Space Planning Solutions for Multi-Story Residential Buildings," "Enclosing Structures," and "Preparing Design Documentation in Accordance with Resolution No. 87." The theoretical portion consists of video lectures, longreads, interviews with partner company experts, test assignments, and a final certification test. The practical portion involves completing assignments and working on a multi-apartment building project.
The course utilized materials from partner companies. Samolet Group provided information on methods for creating courtyard areas, designing modern playgrounds and sports fields, landscaping, and creating utility infrastructure. The company also provided a database of standard section plans, sample layouts for apartments and individual spaces, such as bathrooms and kitchen areas, and sample design briefs. Brusnika provided albums of actual projects, solutions for underground parking and first-floor layouts, and access to photographs of completed projects.
The course is unique in that it includes exclusive interviews with representatives of partner companies. This allows students to gain insight into real-world design practices, explore current solutions, and examine case studies from leading construction industry experts. In an interview, Ekaterina Blagodar, chief architect of Samolet Group projects, discusses apartment layout trends, housing classifications, the impact of insolation and utilities on design, and the use of standard solutions in floor plan development. Konstantin Ustinov, chief engineer of Samolet Group projects, discusses the distribution of parking spaces between above-ground and underground parking, compliance with landscaping regulations, the design stages of underground parking entrances, and waste collection. Darya Batalova, head of the architecture department at Brusnika, shares her experience designing ground floors and underground parking garages in two interviews.
At Brusnika, we're happy to share our accumulated knowledge. In a project with the Civil Engineering Institute, we served as experts and helped supplement the theoretical portion of the course with practical examples. "In fields like urban planning or architecture, this is essential, as pure theory is significantly disconnected from what graduates encounter in the workplace," noted Daria Batalova, head of the architecture department at Brusnika.
Such partnerships are certainly the future. St. Petersburg Polytechnic University provides effective teaching methods and a structured theoretical framework, while industry experts provide practical experience and expertise. I sincerely thank my colleagues for their participation in creating the course: with their help, it was both useful and relevant! I am confident our collaboration will continue—we are already discussing practice-oriented topics for final theses for students at the Institute of Civil Engineering, emphasized the course's author, Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Civil Engineering, Alexandra Zatsepina.
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