The Next House: USA Honorable mention winner - Roman Maslov, Mariana Voloshyn, Herman Sokolov and Yuliia Lebedieva

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the Honorable mention winners of our The Next House: USA competition – Roman Maslov, Mariana Voloshyn, Herman Sokolov and Yuliia Lebedieva from Ukraine!

Roman Maslov, Mariana Voloshyn, Herman Sokolov and Yuliia Lebedieva from Ukraine

Please tell us about your company (when it was founded, where it is based, how many employees, etc) Alternatively, if you do not have a company, please give us some insights on your own professional/academia background.

CUBICAE LTD is a London-based architecture and interior design studio, founded in 2019, with a team of fifteen architects, designers and engineers. We are, above all, a creative studio. Every project starts with truly understanding the task, then searching for the right answer through dozens — sometimes hundreds — of sketches, until the design that feels inevitable emerges. The best solution is rarely the obvious one; it is found, not assumed. Beneath that search runs a deep technical understanding. Our concepts are developed to be built, not to lie on a shelf — imaginative design that is genuinely ready for the real world.

Brief information about the projects that you/your company have been involved with. For instance, what scale have you focused on/preferred, any significant projects where the company/ individuals have been Involved?

We work across a wide range of scales and sectors — from private residences and detailed interiors to hospitality, mixed-use and public buildings — in the UK and internationally, including Ukraine, Azerbaijan, the UAE, China and continental Europe. We've deliberately resisted specialising in a single typology, because our interest is in the approach rather than the building type: understanding each task on its own terms and finding the design it really wants to be. That range keeps the studio curious, and means every new brief is met with fresh eyes rather than a house style.

Our work spans a deliberately wide range of scales — from private residences and interiors to civic and cultural buildings, championship hospitality, mixed-use and large resort masterplans of tens of hectares. We prefer range to specialism: the quality of the idea matters more to us than the size of the commission. Our founder, Roman Maslov, has been involved in a number of significant projects, including:

• The Learning Village — a kindergarten in Kyiv, shortlisted for Kinderspace 2026 and published by ArchDaily
• Akademiya Mall & Food Market and The Colonnades — a mixed-use retail, leisure and office cluster in Baku
• Gabala Mountain Resort — a 65-hectare, year-round destination in the Caucasus foothills
• Championship hospitality for the AELTC at Wimbledon, London
• Greenaway Gardens, Hampstead, and 47 Belgrave Square, London

What does architecture mean to you and what is the role of an architect in your society?

To us, architecture is the discipline of finding the right answer, not the obvious one — of understanding how people actually live and shaping it for the better. It touches everything: whether homes are affordable, whether neighbourhoods feel like communities, whether what we build is worth keeping. The architect's role is to turn the real question behind a brief into something built and lasting — to serve the people who will use a place, not just the drawing. Done well, it is quiet but profound work: it decides the quality of ordinary life.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

We treat competitions above all as a way to test ourselves. Each one is a chance to push into unfamiliar territory — new project types, new tools and software, new ways of working — and to come out the other side with knowledge and skills we didn't have going in. Just as importantly, competitions strengthen the team. Working intensely toward a single deadline shows us where each person is strongest and how we work best together, so that every entry leaves us more capable and more efficient on the next one — and on the real projects that follow. The result matters, but the growth is the point.

What advice would you give to individuals who struggle to decide whether it would be beneficial for them to participate in architecture competitions?

Don't hesitate — you will always gain far more than you risk. Whether or not you win, the experience and knowledge are the real prize, and they stay with you long after the result is announced. Every competition teaches you something a normal project can't: it stretches your skills, sharpens your thinking, and shows you what you and your team are capable of. So enter, and measure it by what it teaches rather than whether you place. Choose a brief that genuinely interests you, give yourself a real deadline, and finish it. The habit compounds — each entry makes the next one easier and the whole studio stronger.