BUDAPEST, HOTEL PRELIMINARY DESIGN 2011
Március 15. tér has always been one of the most significant locations of Pest. At the time of Emperor Diocletian (around 294 A.D.), the fortress of Contra Aquincum was built here to protect the limes on the Buda side - the ruins are still visible today in the northern part of the square. Our design location, a former office building, is also situated on the north of the square, at the corner of Galamb utca. The upper floors of the building offer an extraordinary panorama of the Danube towards the Castle of Buda, Erzsébet híd (Elisabeth Bridge), and Gellért-hegy (Gellért Mountain); and of the Belváros - the historical city center - on the Pest side.
Our study examined the architectural possibilities for transforming the building into a hotel.
The attributes of the building, and the fact that the façade is part of a protected streetscape determined the scale and possibilities of the reconstruction, at least in terms of appearance: according to regulations, all decorative elements and the windows arrangement of the original façade are to be preserved.
The existing roof structure represents an architectural quality that increases the building’s value; examining its shape and materials, we recommended a new structure that avoids rambling, tight interiors. Within the constraints imposed by the existing features, the impression of spaciousness can be created mainly through visual connections: by incorporating glass panels in the roofing and the interior dividing structures.
Péter Kis, Peter Hámori, Guba Sándor, András Beke, Szilvia Beke-Tóth, Orsolya Hőna
Visualization by: Péter Hámori
