Northern Timber Review is written by a small editorial team with a combined background in architecture journalism, civil engineering, and North-West construction-market research. We publish from St. Petersburg.
We started Northern Timber Review in 2023 because the buyer-facing coverage of the Russian timber-construction market had an unusual shape. Magazine architecture writing covered the high end — named architects, published projects, design-press photography — while builder-side trade press spoke exclusively to contractors. The middle of the market, where actual buyers spend actual money on family houses that nobody will photograph for Tatlin, was almost entirely addressed by anonymous SEO listicles and company-controlled marketing content.
We publish for the buyer in that middle. That means ranking articles for specific material categories, company profiles with verified information, practical guides for contract-stage decisions, and a methodology document that explains how we reach our judgments. It does not mean breathless architecture criticism or industry-insider gossip, neither of which we are equipped to do well.
Our coverage is presently limited to St. Petersburg, the Leningrad region, and the North-West more broadly. We cover Vologda and Karelia firms because they deliver to our primary market, not because we pretend to cover those regions as home markets. The publication is in English because a meaningful share of our readership is international buyers of Russian timber houses, or Russian-speaking buyers who prefer English-language consumer coverage.
Our editorial independence rests on two rules we apply strictly and document publicly:
First, ranking positions are not sold. We maintain commercial relationships with several companies covered in our rankings (typically as lead-referral partners), and we disclose this on every page. But those relationships do not determine the ranking order. The methodology document explains how positions are actually assigned.
Second, we do not publish advertorial styled as editorial. Any sponsored content we publish will be visually distinct and clearly labelled. We have not published any sponsored content to date.
A detailed description of our editorial policy and how to challenge any of our judgments is available in the corrections policy.
Editor-in-chief
Architectural journalist, eighteen years covering Russian construction markets. Previously at Project Russia (2008–2014) and Stroyka i Arkhitektura (2016–2022). Graduate of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. Based in St. Petersburg.
Writes on: market overview, national rankings, architectural context.
Senior industry analyst
Civil engineer by training (MGSU, 2011), twelve years in timber-construction consulting for mid-market residential projects. Previously with a North-West technical supervision firm. Leads our technical reviews and contract-due-diligence coverage.
Writes on: technical specifications, materials, contract-stage issues.
Research editor
Economist (HSE St. Petersburg, 2017), five years in market research before joining NTR in 2024. Responsible for the data layer behind our rankings — review aggregation, source verification, and the numbers that end up in our metrics boxes.
Writes on: market data, public-reputation analysis.
Contributing editor
Architectural photographer and field reporter. Splits time between St. Petersburg and Petrozavodsk. Visits production facilities and completed projects for our company profiles. Coverage emphasis on log construction and Karelian firms.
Writes on: field reports, company profiles, log-house category.
Fact-checking editor
Formerly a researcher with a Moscow-based legal-journalism non-profit. Checks every published article against the methodology document and verifies source citations. Also responsible for our corrections log.
Writes on: corrections, methodology updates, source verification notes.
Unpaid external reviewers
We maintain an informal advisory circle of four practising architects and civil engineers in St. Petersburg and Moscow who review draft rankings for technical accuracy. They are not compensated and do not vote on editorial decisions. Their names are withheld at their request but are available to journalists verifying the publication's credentials.
Northern Timber Review operates from a small editorial office in the Petrogradsky district of St. Petersburg. Mail to the editorial desk should be addressed to:
Editors, Northern Timber Review
editors@glulam-construction-companies-in-st-petersburg.com
For correction requests, see our corrections policy. For press, partnership, and other enquiries, see the contact page.
We read everything. We do not always reply immediately, but we do reply.