Locality: 1088 Budapest, Hungary
Client: Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem – Budapest
Area: 1513 m2
Year: 2018
This prestigious, three-storey neo-Gothic palace of the Catholic publishing house was built in 1898, on the half-century anniversary of the establishment of the St. Stephen’s Society, based on the plans of Antal Hofhauser, architect and university professor. The palace, with its pointed arches, is an unplastered red brick building in the heart of the city.
The current occupant, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, is planning to renovate and extend the building’s common areas. The main element of this is to cover the inner courtyard with a glass roof and to eliminate the ground floor rooms directly connected to the courtyard, thus creating a large, coherent community space. Our design has created an exciting flow of spaces by compressing the heterogeneous spatial arrangement as much as possible, while retaining the architecture of each room. The new glass roof fits neatly into the system of courtyard facades, with a diagonal structure inspired by the Gothic arches. The new communal space is defined by a uniform terrazzo floor, inspired by the dominant cladding of the building.
The newly reopened ground floor openings of the clinker-brick paved courtyard are framed and sealed with sintered steel sheet linings, which also conceal the mechanical fittings. The interior design has a contemporary, youthful feel, which runs throughout the new lobby space.
| architecture: | Csaba Balogh, Ágnes Deigner, Levente Sirokai, Péter Sónicz |
| architect associate: | Krisztina Ancza, Balázs Fürtön, Orsolya Tatár-Gönczi, Ági Vértesy |
| structural engineering: | Zoltán V.Nagy | Lapidárium Mérnöki Kft. |
| building service enguineering: | János Lencsés | LE’VÉL Kft. |
| electrical engineering: | Ferenc Kelemen | Kelevill-FZ Kft. |
| fire protection: | György Decsi | Fireeng Kft. |
| kitchen technology: | Katalin Harangi | Artakim Kft. |