Beauty Centre, Hévíz

Architects: László Kalmár, Zsolt Zsuffa
Text: Gábor Kerner
Photos: Tamás Bujnovszky

László Kalmár and Zsolt Zsuffa attempted a formidable task when designing and constructing their glass palace right in the heart of Hévíz referred to now as the Beauty Centre. It is an euphemism of me to say that the urban structure, development and streetscapes of Hévíz are eclectic in style. Owing to prospering medical tourism a large number of houses were built in the past decades in this town of Zala county representing a wide variety of scrolled, fringy, many-storeyed panelled and styrofoamed structures – and the list of buildings attired in cynical adjectives could be continued endlessly. There was nothing else left to be done than go on to operate by erasing false proofs and create something highly unusual here. To guide users and onlookers into another dimension, into a system of relations without neighbours. Designers have succeeded in doing so to the full. The structure, the selection of materials used, concrete hidden and yet tactile, transparent glass surfaces and the green areas advanced offer something basically new: it is a composition on four levels.

Architects: László Kalmár, Zsolt Zsuffa
Fellow architects: Csaba Helmle, Mihály Kanyó, Zsófia Lázár, Gábor Nagy, Glória Papp, Szilvia Rehus,Balázs Rose
Structure: Gergely Dobszay
Interior design: Csaba Finta, Kriszta Balázs
Garden design: Karolin Bán
Statics: István Szabó
Techncal installations: László Rádonyi, László Nagylucskay
Electrical engineering: Vilmos Szalmási
Fire protection: István Böröcz
Main contractor: Dezső Baki – Grabarics Kft.