Detached family house, Felsőörs

Architect: D. Barna Kovács
Text: Domonkos Wettstein
Photos: István Homoki

In the past few decades, this settlement, which is close to both Alsóörs and Almádi and also easily accessible from Budapest, has undergone significant changes. Its residential area has grown many times over, and traditional forms of farming are in decline. The local community is also undergoing a kind of transformation: the settlement, once known for its stone quarries, is now home to an increasing number of people moving out of the city to build and start a new life.
On one of the newly parcelled streets, a family returning from Norway has built a house. They fell in love with the architectural character of the Balaton Uplands and respected the village community’s intentions for the townscape, but at the same time wanted to design their new home in line with their urban lifestyle. Barna Kovács D., who had previously designed several well-known buildings in the Balaton Uplands region, was asked to draw up the plans. His buildings reflect his unique vision: he does not copy traditional forms, but deconstructs them, reinterpreting components of local architecture in line with today’s technology and lifestyle, repositioning not only their tectonic role but also their formal meaning, if necessary.

Architect: D. Barna Kovács – Barna Architects
Structure: Beáta Horváth, Csaba Böhm
HVAC: Barnabás Bagi
Electrical engineering: Gábor Füleki